Greatest Love Story
by TBorah89
Summary: AU Deyna story. Rayna Wyatt is a young up and comer at Wyatt Industries. Deacon Claybourne is a guitar playing bad boy with a dark past. Part of that past includes Rayna. This story answers the question, what would have happened had Rayna back down when Lamar told her to give up music or get out?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is an AU Deyna story that popped into my head while listening to the radio. I don't think it'll be as long as my other stories.

Disclaimer: I don't own Nashville I'm only borrowing it.

* * *

Chapter 1

Rayna Wyatt sat at the desk in her corner office at Wyatt Industries. She leaned back in her chair with her hands folded together resting on her chest. Outside her window, she had a great view of the Cumberland River. The radio was tuned to WSM and it was playing softly in the background.

She swiveled around in her chair when she heard a knock on the door.

"Hey, I just came to see how you're settling in." Tandy walked into the office with a smile.

"Tandy, I've been here for three months. There's no need for you to come and check on me all the time." Rayna sat up in her chair.

Tandy sat down across from her. "Ok, you caught me. I'm on a peace keeping mission."

"If that's the case you can walk right back out that door the way you came. I told him we are through and I meant it." Rayna frowned.

"Come on, Rayna, he loves you. He just wants another chance." Tandy pleaded the case.

"No, he just wants to control me and own me. Plus, he sees marrying a Wyatt as a way to get the Conrad name back." Rayna corrected her.

"You're an up and coming executive and he's an up and coming banker. You're a match made in business heaven. Daddy likes him and Joe likes him. He fits in just fine with the family. What more could you want?" Tandy tried to talk some sense into her.

"Just because I let daddy win one battle doesn't mean I'm going to let him win the war that is my life. I don't know that I love Teddy and I'm not willing to marry him feeling that way. I'm only twenty. I don't wanna be tied down yet." Rayna argued her point.

"Because you're a wild mustang that can't be broken?" Tandy smirked.

"Shut up," Rayna tossed a pen at her.

" _Up next we have a new one from Deacon Claybourne."_ The radio announcer said.

Every muscle in Rayna's body stiffened. It had been years, but still she had a reaction to hearing that name.

" _I wear a greasy ball cap. I like my shirt untucked. I spend Saturdays workin' on my truck. I don't like to fight, but I ain't scared to bleed. Most don't mess with a guy like me. 'Cause guys like me drink too many beers on Friday after work. Our best blue jeans have Skoal rings we wear our boots to church. So rough around the edges it's hard to believe. That girls like you love guys like me."_

"Do you ever regret it?" Tandy didn't have to name what it was for her sister to know what she was talking about.

" _Your daddy worked at the bank. Mine worked on cars. You went to college. I pulled graveyard. You must have had your picks of all the trust fund types. Still you came back to me and only God knows why."_

"Giving into daddy or breaking up with him?" Rayna asked dryly.

"' _Cause guys like me drink too many beers on Friday after work. Our best blue jeans have Skoal rings. We wear our boots to church. So rough around the edges it's hard to believe. That girls like you love guys like me."_

"Both I guess." Tandy replied.

" _Now there's a lotta guys like me out there in a lotta little towns. Tellin' all our buddies we won't ever settle down. We say that's just the way we are and the way we'll always be. So God sends girls like for guys like me. Thank God there's girls like you for guys like me."_

"I was sixteen and we'd lost mom four years before that. I wasn't ready to up and leave the last place I saw her. It's not like he silenced my voice he just stopped my progress for a little while. And as for him I think it was the sensible thing to do. He would have never fit in with that college crowd and truthfully, I had to figure out who I was. I had to do that without him. He's not really the jealous type so much as he's the protective type. It was easier this way. I know it damn near broke both of us, but it worked out for the best." Rayna shrugged.

"Not long after you broke up with him, him and that friend of his took off to Austin and the next thing anyone heard they were on the radio." Tandy drummed her fingers on the desk.

"I'm surprised he could keep Vince away from whiskey and women long enough to make a go of anything with him." Rayna cracked.

"How long has it been since you've seen him?" Tandy asked.

"I haven't seen him since I told him it was over. I knew if I kept hanging around him that I wouldn't really be letting him go. I had to make a clean break for both our sakes. Sure, I fantasized many times about running off with him to make music and live on love. The practical side of me won out. And I guess it wasn't worth losing you and daddy. Ya'll are the only family I have left even though I don't like him sometimes." Rayna answered.

"Are you going to try to see him while he's in town?" Tandy asked another question.

"No, I don't think that would be a wise idea. I think the way things are now are the way they need to stay." Rayna sighed. She didn't really believe that, but it was easier on her heart.

"I'm glad to hear that." Tandy rewarded her with a smile.

"Rayna," Lamar walked in without paying attention to who was in the office. "Well, look at this. Both my daughters are here. You two have no idea how happy it makes me to have both my girls working with me."

"Daddy, you only mention it every chance you get." Tandy reminded him.

"Did you need something, daddy?" Rayna plastered a smile on her face.

"No, I just wanted to come see how you were fitting in here." Lamar smiled back.

"I'm fitting in just fine. You're both keeping me from doing my work." Rayna glared at them.

"That's not what it looked like you were doing when I walked in here." Tandy called her out.

"I was thinking. I just got the paperwork together for one of the accounts I'm in charge of." Rayna explained.

"Tandy, I think we should leave her to it then." Lamar gestured for Tandy to follow him.

"We are all going out for mid week drinks after work tonight. Do you wanna join us?" Tandy extended an invitation for her sister to join her and some of their colleagues for drinks.

"Thanks for the offer, Tandy, but I already have plans tonight. Maybe next time." Rayna politely declined. She had better things to do than go get drunk with the sticks in the mud her father employed.

* * *

Vince Jameson jumped up on the couch with a start. "What the hell man?" He sputtered and coughed.

Deacon Claybourne stood there holding an empty water pitcher in his hand. "I tried to wake you up the easy way. You didn't respond to that. Get your ass up we have to be at sound check."

"I woulda gotten up in time. You didn't have to douse me with water." Vince took his soaking wet shirt off and threw it on floor.

"No, you wouldn't have. Tell that lie to someone who don't know ya, Vinny. We're playin' Robert's Western World tonight. I don't wanna fuck this up. This is the first time since we branched out that we are gonna play Nashville. It has to be perfect." Deacon told him.

"It's your couch you're gonna ruin doin' that, it's no skin off my ass." Vince stretched his limbs. "You want it to be perfect just in case the Ice Princess shows up." He rolled his eyes.

"I ain't even thinkin' 'bout Rayna." Deacon snorted indignantly.

"Maybe not in the last five seconds, but you're always thinkin' 'bout Rayna. Every damn song you write is 'bout her. You either need to go beg her for a second chance or get over her." Vince arched his eyebrow.

"Shut the hell up, why don't ya? You need to lay off the Rayna thing." Deacon snapped.

"You're still touchy 'bout her I see. I warned you when you fell for her that she was just usin' ya to piss off her rich daddy. You shoulda listened to me and you woulda saved yourself a world of hurt." Vince pointed out to him. He was used to his best friend's temper and he didn't let it bother him anymore.

"It wasn't like that with me and her and you know it. She loved me I know she did. I loved her more than anythin'." Deacon flared.

"You still love her. You haven't had a real girlfriend since her 'cause you're afraid it would feel like you're cheatin' on her. Sure, I know you've gotten you a piece of ass here and there, but it ain't been nothin' serious." Vince corrected.

"Fuck you, Vince." Deacon's face turned bright red and the veins in his neck popped out.

"You're only mad, 'cause you know I'm right." Vince smirked.

"You're a real pain in the ass, you know that?" Deacon clenched his fists.

"I know. That's why you love me and keep me around." Vince headed off in the direction of the bathroom to take a shower.

"Deacon, it's really good to see you back in town." Watty White offered the younger man his hand. He had listened to him do sound check with his band.

"Well, hey, Watty, it's damn good to see ya too. We went to Austin and things took off so quickly there ain't really been time for anythin' else." Deacon shook his hand with a genuine smile on his face.

"Have you seen her since you've been back?" Watty asked.

"No, I ain't seen her. I don't know if should. I don't even know if she wants to see me." Deacon shrugged his shoulders.

"That's a damn shame. I don't know what happened between the two of you personally, but you were always dynamite together musically." Watty shook his head sadly.

"Lamar happened. He threatened to take her home away from her, so she stopped making music behind his back. We lasted longer than that as a couple. She broke up with me before she went to college. I don't guess I blame her much. Up against somethin' like that I don't think I was much of a catch." Deacon sighed lowly.

"She's back to making music you know? She's still every bit as good as she's always been. There's just something missing though." Watty informed him.

"I didn't know that. It's been a long time since I heard from her." Deacon replied.

"You should call her up." Watty suggested.

Deacon laughed humorlessly. "First Vince and now you. What is it with ya'll either wantin' to remind me of or wantin' me to talk to the woman who shattered my heart?"

"She needs your help, Deacon. She's in a corner office at Wyatt Industries, she has a yuppie boyfriend, and she looks absolutely miserable. Like I said musically you two are perfect together. You need her just as much as she needs you." Watty explained to him.

"How's that?" Deacon asked.

"This whole dude country, tear in my beer music is only gonna carry you so far. You need an edge and she could give you that edge. I'm not saying dismantle your band, you've got a good thing going. I'm saying a few collaborations would be good for both of you." Watty answered him.

"I'll think 'bout it." Deacon grunted.

"You should do more than think about, Deacon. This is good exposure. She's playing the Bluebird tonight. She goes on after your set here. You should go check it out." Watty tried to get through to him.

"If I say I'll go watch her, will ya'll leave me alone for a little while?" Deacon groaned.

"I'll leave you alone if you just go see her set." Watty knew he was lying, but it was a start.

"I'm gonna hold you to that." Deacon pointed a warning finger at him.

"I hear, ya, Deacon." Watty did his best to repress a smirk. He knew that Deacon would agree to go. He was too in love with Rayna not to.

* * *

" _He was workin' through college on my grandpa's farm. I was thirstin' for knowledge and he had a car. Well, I was caught somewhere between a woman and a child. One restless summer we found love growin' wild. On the banks of the river on a well beaten path it's funny how those memories they last."_ Rayna was playing the last song in her set at the Bluebird. It was part of the way she kept her sanity. Working with her father took just about all she had out of her.

Deacon stood in the back of the bar with a baseball cap pulled down over his eyes. He didn't want her to know she was there just yet. As usual he was blown away not only by her voice, but by her beauty. She looked even better now than she had the last time he'd seen her.

" _Like strawberry wine, seventeen. The hot July moon saw everything. My first taste of love oh bittersweet and green on the vine. Like strawberry wine."_ Even though she wouldn't admit to it. That song was about Deacon. Most of her deep songs were.

Deacon inhaled deeply. He knew without a doubt where this song had come from. Maybe one day it wouldn't hurt this much to be around her. He loved finally being in the same room as her, but it was painful.

" _I still remember when thirty was old. My biggest fear was September when he had to go. A few cards and letters and one long distance call. We drifted away like the leaves in the fall. But year after year I come back to this place just to remember the taste."_ She closed her eyes.

" _Of strawberry wine, seventeen. The hot July moon saw everything. My first taste of love oh bittersweet and green on the vine. Like strawberry wine."_

Deacon took his hat off and rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand. He had to admit she was more talented than he remembered. She had really matured as an artist.

" _The fields have grown over now years since they've seen the plow. There's nothing time hasn't touched. Is it really him or the loss of my innocence I've been missin' so much? Strawberry wine and seventeen. The hot July moon saw everything. My first taste of love oh bittersweet green on the vine. Like strawberry wine and seventeen. That hot July moon saw everything. My first taste of love oh bittersweet green on the vine. Like strawberry wine. Strawberry wine. Strawberry wine."_

Rayna cleared her throat. "Thank ya'll so much for lettin' me play for you tonight." She stepped down off the stage.

"Ya'll we have a special guest in the house tonight and I think if we ask nicely enough he will get up and play for us. Put your hands together for one of our city's favorite adopted sons, Deacon Claybourne." The mc announced.

Deacon looked down and shook his head. He blushed bright red. He still wasn't used to all the praise being heaped on him. He walked up to the stage and took a seat on a stool. He borrowed at guitar. "Hey, ya'll, I have a new one that I think you're gonna like." He started to play.

" _I've been burnin' bright. For so long I can't remember. Pretty girls and late night bars seem to be my line of work. Believe me when I say I can't stay this high forever. This man's had all he can stand time to lay this body down."_ His eyes found Rayna in the crowd.

" _Sweet Annie can I stay with you awhile? 'Cause the road's been puttin' miles on my heart. Sweetheart I've been livin' in a fantasy but one day lightning will strike. And my bark will lose its bite. But don't give up on me sweet Annie. Sweet Annie,"_ He may not have mentioned her by name, but this song was about a certain redhead that would always hold his heart.

Rayna knew that she should go, but she couldn't bring herself to move. She was transfixed by him as usual.

" _I know I promised you a life but with an empty bed and the words I said don't carry any weight. If I could take back yesterday find a way to start it over. Turn around pout that bottle down and pray it's not too late."_

" _Sweet Annie can I stay with you awhile? 'Cause the road's been puttin' miles on my heart. Sweetheart I've been livin' in a fantasy but one day lightning will strike. And my bark will lose its bite. But don't give up on me sweet Annie. Sweet Annie,"_

Rayna felt something stir in her soul she thought was long dead and buried.

" _Turn out the lights. These hands alone to you fall all over you. All over again come a little closer so I can show you. My heart still beats fast for you. All over and over again."_ Deacon sang the words that he couldn't say to her face.

" _Sweet Annie can I stay with you awhile? 'Cause the road's been puttin' miles on my heart. Sweetheart I've been livin' in a fantasy but one day lightning will strike. And my bark will lose its bite. But don't give up on me sweet Annie. Sweet Annie,"_

Deacon exited the stage and went after Rayna before she could get away. Surprisingly she moved closer to him. His mouth went dry and his palms got sweaty. "Hey, Ray," he squeaked out.

"Hey, Deacon," Rayna smiled shyly.

"You look damn good and you sound even better." Deacon said the first thing that popped into his head.

"I could say the same for you. I'm really proud of you for following through with your dream." Rayna reached out and squeezed his hand.

"Thanks, you were the only one I was ever worried 'bout tryin' to impress." Deacon wiped his hands on his jeans.

"I've always been impressed with you, you ain't gotta try very hard." Rayna winked at him.

"We should catch up. You want a drink?" Deacon offered.

"I have work in the morning I really shouldn't, but I've never really done what I'm supposed to do. Order us a round of beers and I'll get a table." Rayna replied automatically.

"Your wish is my command as usual." Deacon went off to get their drinks.

The pair spent the next hour drinking and taking a trip down memory lane.

"It's late, now I really have to go. I don't wanna be hungover." Rayna said after she checked her watch.

"I understand. Listen, Ray, I've got a show at the Ryman tomorrow night and I'd really love it if you came. It'd be a full circle type of thing for me." Deacon replied. The hope was evident in his voice.

"Let me think about it and I'll get back to you. Give me your number." Rayna smiled at him.

Deacon wrote down his number on a cocktail napkin and slid it across the table to her. "That's my number. You'd like the new apartment the only pest I have to share it with is Vince."

"I don't think there's a cure for a Vince infestation. You'll have to tell him I said hi." Rayna laughed.

"Come to the show and tell him yourself." Deacon countered.

"Fine, you win. I'll be at your show tomorrow night, but that's it. You're a hard man to say no to." Rayna rolled her eyes playfully.

"If memory serves you ain't said no to me often." Deacon licked his lips suggestively.

"You're a pig and I'm gonna go." Rayna tried her best to sound indignant.

Deacon laughed, "It was really good to see you."

"It was great to see you too, Deacon." Rayna kissed his cheek before she left.

* * *

A/N: Here is the first chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Until next time please review.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers.

* * *

Chapter 2

Rayna hummed softly to herself and tapped her foot along to the beat. She was supposed to be paying attention to what was going on in the meeting for the client account that she was handling. This daydreaming happened to her all the time when she got a song stuck in her head. It had made getting through college a chore. When she was supposed to be doing her homework she would have to pause to work on a song.

"Ms. Wyatt, does that sound alright to you?" A member of her team asked her.

Rayna blinked her eyes and came back to the present. "That sounds great to me. You don't have to call me Ms. Wyatt. When you call me that I want to look over my shoulder and make sure that my sister isn't standing there."

"Whatever you want." The young man agreed.

"Ok, I think we all know what needs to be done. Get on it and if you have any questions come to me, I'll take care of it." Rayna dismissed them for the day.

Tandy knocked on the door before Rayna could walk out. "You got a minute?"

"Yeah, I think I can spare a minute for you." Rayna closed her portfolio and looked up at her sister.

Tandy held up a copy of the Tennessean. It was turned to the entertainment section. There was a picture of Rayna singing at the Bluebird the night before. "Are you trying to give daddy a heart attack? This is what you declined after work drinks for?"

"I'm an adult now, Tandy. He doesn't get to tell me how to live my life anymore. I love music and it's part of who I am." Rayna shrugged her shoulders.

"I'm just letting you know that he's not going to be happy about this." Tandy pointed out to her.

"I know he won't be. I'm not sixteen-years-old anymore he can't threaten to throw me out. I have my own place now. He can't cut me off either. I got one of my trust funds when I turned eighteen. I'll get the other when I turn twenty-one. He's not gonna have a problem as long as I keep working here for now. I'm really not too worried about it." Rayna retorted.

"There's some favorable comparisons in here to mom. The consensus seems to be that you're really talented." Tandy reported.

"I wouldn't know I try not to read things about myself. That way I don't have to see how horrible people think I am." Rayna grunted dismissively.

"You're not horrible. You never have been and you know it." Tandy pointed out to her.

"I am horrible on guitar. I do my best, but I really need someone to play for me." Rayna corrected her.

"I let you blow me off last night. Tell me that you'll come have dinner with me and Joe tonight." Tandy changed the subject.

"Like either of us really get out of here early enough to have dinner like normal people." Rayna snorted.

"We are cutting out early today at around four and we are meeting Joe at the club for an early dinner." Tandy explained to her.

"Does daddy know this? And it will have to be an early dinner because I have plans later." Rayna informed her.

"If you and Joe get to drinking together you may have to cancel your plans." Tandy teased.

"Joe and I get drunk together because we like each other better than we like you." Rayna laughed at the look that crossed her sister's face.

"I control his sex life he better not like you better than me." Tandy huffed.

* * *

"There's my favorite person in the world and she brought my wife with her." Joe stood up from the table and spread his arms wide. He was a tall lean, blonde haired blue eyed man in his mid-twenties. He was classically handsome and had a smile that could light up any room.

Rayna hugged her brother-in-law. "Joe Hampton, you better behave yourself or your wife is gonna accuse us of scandalous behavior."

"I say let her talk it would only last until one of these ladies around here got a new facelift." Joe winked at her.

"Joe, you are not supposed to encourage her bad behavior. It's daddy's and my hope that we can turn her into a respectable lady." Tandy gave her husband a chaste kiss on the lips.

"Lamar's got you. I think that Rayna is safe to be unladylike." Joe replied.

Tandy rolled her eyes and sat down. "You're impossible."

"See? This is why we get along well." Rayna pointed out.

"Yeah, you're both a pain in my ass." Tandy scoffed.

The waiter brought a round of drinks to the table.

"Joe, why did you order four drinks? Two of them better be for you." Rayna gave him a withering look.

"Scotch for me, bourbon for you, wine for Tandy, and another scotch for me." Joe covered quickly.

"You're double fisting scotch now?" Rayna arched her eyebrow.

"I handle your father's account at my firm. You work with the man that should tell you why I need two drinks." Joe retorted.

"Mhmm," Rayna narrowed her eyes at him.

"Hey, everyone, sorry I'm late traffic was a nightmare." Teddy Conrad joined them at the table.

"It's alright, Teddy, I already ordered you a scotch." Joe assured him.

"Tandy," Rayna glared at her sister.

"Don't blame me, blame my husband. You told me to back off you didn't say anything about him backing off." Tandy pointed out.

"As I'm sure he was more than happy to explain to you with his lawyer logic." Rayna just shook her head.

"Rayna, you're stubborn. We all know that you wouldn't have called Teddy or answered his calls without a little push." Joe very much enjoyed having a baby sister to play cupid to even if it was only by marriage.

"I have plans tonight, Joe. I'm not gonna be here long." Rayna informed him.

"It can't hurt for us all to have dinner together like civilized people." Joe tried to keep things from being awkward.

"Then I should tell you that Teddy is only civil until his gets around his frat brothers. They can behave like wild animals sometimes." Rayna quipped.

"Listen to her joke like that she does still have feelings for me." Teddy grinned.

"Teddy, don't push your luck." Tandy advised him.

"I'd listen to my sister if I were you. She's known me my whole life and she knows what my temper is like." Rayna agreed.

"I know what your temper's like too. You can't deny that we're good together." Teddy tried his hand at sweet talking her.

"Do you mean romantically or career wise? The last time we had this conversation you mentioned somethin' about us bein' a power couple." Rayna gave him a look.

"Teddy, you're an idiot. You should have told me that you said something so stupid. When you come to me and ask me to help you, you have to give me the full story." Tandy sighed loudly.

"I thought I could deal with that when it came up." Teddy admitted.

"Look, you two are clearly made for each other. You both need to stop being stubborn. Was there really any reason for you to break up?" Joe looked between them.

"Joe, give it a rest. We need to order dinner. I have plans after this." Rayna informed him. She ignored what he'd said.

"What kind of plans? Maybe I can come with you." Teddy's face brightened.

"The kind of plans that it would be a very bad idea for you to come with me." Rayna shot him down.

"Well, maybe we can talk later." Teddy replied lamely.

"I'll think about it." Rayna threw him a bone.

* * *

"Deac, you're sweatin' like a whore in church, son. You need to sit down and have a beer." Vince watched his friend pace back and forth the dressing room they were in.

"This is the Mother Church of country music. I ain't nervous 'bout the show." Deacon cracked open a beer and drank from it until it was empty.

"Then what are you nervous 'bout?" Branch Matthews spoke up. He was a guitar player they had picked up in Austin.

"Branch, let us paint you a picture. Once upon a time, Ol' Deac had this girl he was crazy 'bout. She was this hot little redhead. She did a real number on our fearless leader." Max the bass player spoke up.

"Shut the hell up, Max." Deacon snapped at him.

"Max should know better than to start shit like that in front of Deac. He still ain't over that little ol' girl." Vince scoffed.

A security guard knocked on the door and opened it. "Mr. Claybourne, there's a woman out here that says she knows you and she has a pass. Do you want us to send her in?"

Deacon broke out in a wide grin. "Send her on in."

Rayna walked in. "Well, look at you, Mr. Big Shot." She teased him.

Deacon hugged her. "I still ain't used to it. I hear Mr. Claybourne and I look 'round for my father."

"This life looks good on you." Rayna hugged him back.

"Did you have any trouble gettin' your pass or anythin'?" Deacon gave her a beer.

"No, I had no trouble. Then again with the last name Wyatt I typically don't in this town." Rayna smiled her thanks for the beer.

"I think you know pretty much everyone 'round here 'cept for Branch." Deacon replied. "Branch, this is Rayna Wyatt. Ray, this is Branch Matthews."

Rayna offered the man her hand. "It's nice to meet you, Branch."

Branch shook her hand. "It's nice to meet a pretty lady such as yourself."

"Branch, watch yourself. The boss man will not be happy if you put the moves on his girl." Hayes warned him. He was the fiddle player.

"Hayes, shut up." Deacon glared at him.

"You're only mad 'cause he's right, Deac." Vince cracked open another beer.

"You're still as mouthy as ever I see." Rayna addressed Vince.

"It's good to see you too, Princess." Vince tipped his cowboy hat to her.

"Jackass," Rayna spit back at him.

"Belle Meade Ice Princess," Vince smirked at her.

"I haven't missed you at all." Rayna told him.

"I ain't missed you either." Vince tipped his hat again.

"This is just like old times. You two goin' at each other like cats and dogs." Deacon shook his head and laughed.

There was another knock on the door and Deacon's manager walked in.

"Deacon, are you guys ready to roll for the night?" Bucky Dawes asked his client.

"Yeah, we're ready when they tell us." Deacon replied. "Buck, let me introduce you to someone special to me, Rayna Wyatt." He pointed at Rayna.

Bucky shook her hand enthusiastically. "I'm Bucky Dawes, I help keep this circus outta trouble. I'm hearing great things about you through the grapevine. If you ever need a manager my door is open. You have a shot at a huge career, young lady. You're very talented."

Rayna blushed slightly. "Thank you, so much. I will keep that in mind. I know how hard it is to handle all these guys together. I used to make music with these idiots."

"Buck, can you keep her company while I'm on stage tonight?" Deacon asked her.

"I can do that. I'm sure that I can find a whole host of things to talk about with her." Bucky agreed.

"Deacon, that's really sweet of you, but I don't have to be entertained." Rayna smiled.

"Nonsense, after the way you sounded at the Bluebird last night you're gonna need to know people like Bucky. If it weren't for Buck I wouldn't have my shit together most of the time." Deacon admitted.

"Deacon, remember don't get too wild when you have after show drinks tonight. The label is getting antsy about the bill your band produces." Bucky reminded him.

"I know, Buck, I hear ya." Deacon patted his back and laughed.

A stagehand stuck his head in the door. "It's time to walk."

"That's our cue, boys, let's go." Deacon made a wind it up motion with his finger.

" _One Mississippi two Mississippi countin' down the seconds standin' in the wreckage of love on a cold gray Jackson dawn. Oh, I just can't watch this, sure can't stop this. I keep waitin' your tail lights fadin'. I see you're already gone. I'm half of who I used to be. One Mississippi."_ Deacon closed the show out with his first number one single. He'd written shortly after his break up with Rayna.

"I've heard that song before and I could hear the emotion in his voice, but I never dreamed it was that deep." Rayna commented to Bucky.

"I asked him how he did it once and he told me 'three chords and the truth, Buck, three chords and the truth.' I'm still not really sure what he meant by that." Bucky shrugged.

"I know exactly what he meant." Rayna replied.

" _Lipstick on a coffee cup I know I should wash it up. But maybe I'll just wait here for a little while. Run my fingers 'round the top where your lips were I just stop. 'Cause I, I can almost see your smile."_

"You're the girl that broke his heart that badly aren't you?" Bucky asked.

"I guess you could say that. I broke my own heart too." Rayna had to agree with him there.

" _And it's one Mississippi, two Mississippi countin' down the seconds standin' in the wreckage of love on a cold gray Jackson dawn. And I know everybody's got their demons. Everybody's got their reasons why they leave when they run. But baby I coulda helped you through it you built a wall and I couldn't get to it. And now I'm waitin' for the rain and the pain to come."_ Deacon very rarely put down his guitar, but for this song he played the piano.

"At the time it was probably the best thing for his career. I'm just asking that you don't jerk him around or play with his heart. He won't say it, but he's not over you." Bucky leveled with her.

"I'm not over him either. I don't know that I ever will be." Rayna replied.

" _And it's one Mississippi, two Mississippi countin' down the seconds standin' in the wreckage of love on a cold gray Jackson dawn. Oh, I just can't watch this, sure can't stop this. I keep waitin' your tail lights are fadin' I see you're already gone. I'm half of who I used to be one Mississippi. Oh, one Mississippi."_ The last note was emotional and haunting. Deacon's voice slowly faded out as the lights dimmed.

* * *

"Deacon, you were incredible tonight. I think I'd forgotten how good you are." Rayna sat across the table from Deacon.

"I never thought I was really all that great. You were always the better of the two of us." Deacon blushed from her praise.

"You're a natural born artist. You can sing, write, and play guitar. That makes you a triple threat." Rayna put her hand on top of his.

"You have all those things goin' for ya too 'cept for the guitar playin' part." Deacon winked at her.

"I can't play guitar and I admit to that. You best leave me alone or I'm gonna have to rethink why I came out with you tonight." Rayna teased.

"Seriously, bein' out in front on my own took a while to get used to. I was always your side man. I'd never really done the front man thing for a real crowd before." Deacon sipped his beer.

"You stepped into the role without missing a beat. I meant what I said last night I really am proud of ya." Rayna squeezed his hand.

"I'm proud of you too. I heard from Watty that you graduated at the top of your class and you're the account executive for some huge client your daddy has." Deacon smiled softly.

"I hate it sometimes, but I guess I'm good at it." Rayna chuckled.

"I just have a hard time seein' you as some stuffy buttoned up type." Deacon observed.

"I'm really not. It drives daddy and Tandy insane." Rayna's eyes sparkled with mirth.

"You always did like doin' that." Deacon agreed.

"So, what made you go to Austin?" Rayna asked him.

Before he could reply Vince came over and drug Deacon off his stool. "Come on, up on stage. You gotta karaoke. You too, Princess." He grabbed Rayna's hand.

"Vince, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Rayna fumed at him.

"What she said." Deacon scowled.

"I am re lightin' a spark. I already picked the song. Get on up there." Vince answered cryptically.

Deacon and Rayna got up on the stage. "I'm gonna kill him." He grumbled.

"I'll help you." Rayna whispered back as the music started.

" _We got married in a fever hotter than a pepper sprout. We've been talkin' 'bout Jackson ever since the fire went out."_ They sang the opening line together.

" _I'm goin' to Jackson I'm gonna mess around. Yeah, I'm goin' to Jackson. Look out Jackson town."_ Deacon sang and shook his head.

" _Well, go on down to Jackson go ahead and wreck your health. Go play your hand you big talkin' man and make a big fool of yourself. Yeah, go to Jackson go comb your hair."_ Rayna sang and flirted with Deacon.

" _Honey, I'm gonna snowball, Jackson,"_ He got close to her.

" _See if I care."_ She leaned into him.

" _When I breeze into that city people gonna stoop and bow. All them women gonna make me teach 'em what they don't know how. I'm goin' to Jackson you turn a loose of my coat. 'Cause I'm goin' to Jackson."_ Deacon put his hand on the small of her back.

" _Goodbye that's all she wrote."_ A smirk played on Rayna's lips. _"Bet they'll laugh at you in Jackson and I'll be dancin' on a pony keg. They'll lead you 'round town like a scalded hound with your tail tucked between your legs. Yeah go to Jackson you big talkin' man. And I'll be waitin' in Jackson behind my Jaypan fan."_

" _Well now we got married in a fever hotter than a pepper sprout. We've been talkin' 'bout Jackson ever since the fire went out. I'm goin' to Jackson and that's a fact. Yeah, we're goin' to Jackson ain't never comin' back. Well, we got married in a fever hotter than pepper sprout. And we've been talkin' 'bout Jackson ever since the fire went out."_ They finished the song together. The crowd applauded loudly.

"Wanna get outta here with me?" Deacon asked her once they stepped down.

"Yeah, that would be nice." Rayna agreed with him.

Rayna and Deacon took a cab back to his apartment. They sat in the living room just casually drinking beer.

"I owe you an answer to the question you asked me before. I couldn't stand to be here and not be with ya. Every corner I turned I could still see you. That was no way for me to live. Vince and I got in the truck one day and just started drivin'. We ended up in Austin we played shows here and there and we caught the attention of a talent scout for my label. I cut a demo for them and they loved it. We called the rest of the band down and the rest is history." Deacon explained to her.

"I went a few months after we broke up without playin' music, but the pull of the siren song was too much for me and I went back to it." Rayna replied.

"You are my siren song. I can't stay away from you. I haven't had a relationship since you called it quits." Deacon didn't know why he said that.

"I have a boyfriend or had a boyfriend I'm not sure which. It's very complicated right now. I told him it's over and he's not taking no for an answer." Rayna shrugged.

"I can tell you from experience you ain't an easy woman to let go of." Deacon grinned at her sexily.

"I think he's more in love with who my daddy is than he's in love with me. I honestly can't see myself spending the rest of my life with him that's for sure." Rayna opened up to him.

"It sounds to me like it ain't all that complicated. You're done and he just ain't accepted it yet." Deacon pointed out to her.

"You don't have any idea what kinda pest he is. Daddy, Tandy, and Joe all love him." Rayna rolled her eyes.

"I think Joe likes everyone. He was always decent to me." Deacon replied.

"Joe thinks he's my big brother and whoever is good to me and makes me happy is good enough for him. Daddy and Tandy seem to think that I need to marry a blue blood." Rayna retorted.

"You're 'bout the only person I would think 'bout marryin'. Other than that I wouldn't wanna be tied down." Deacon looked at her longingly.

"Deacon, I'm not the same person I was when we broke up. I don't think you're the same person you used to be either. We couldn't just jump back into this thing like we never took a break. I have enough on my plate as it is." Rayna was approaching this with caution.

"So, why can't we be friends for now?" Deacon suggested.

"I don't see a thing wrong with that." Rayna smiled at him.

"So, as a friend can I take you to lunch tomorrow?" Deacon grinned back at her.

"I would love that. I'll pencil you in." Rayna joked with him.

"Wow, you're really an executive." Deacon elbowed her playfully.

"And I have the work load to prove it." Rayna winked and laughed.

* * *

A/N: Here is the next chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Until next time please review.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers.

* * *

Chapter 3

"Shit!" Rayna shuffled the papers on her desk into a stack. She'd had one hell of a morning and now she was running late for her lunch date with Deacon.

"That's not very ladylike, young lady." Lamar stood in her doorway.

"Hi, daddy, I'm late taking my lunch. If this is important it's gonna have to wait until I get back." Rayna replied.

"You do know that no one expects you to do anything around here right? I have you in the post you're in to learn the ropes. Your boss tells me that you're doing very well though. It's ok for you to take a step back. This is your birthright you're not gonna be out of a job ever." Lamar pointed out to her.

"Daddy, if I didn't do any work I would get bored sitting here all day. I don't want anyone to say the only reason I got this job is because I'm the boss's daughter." Rayna leveled with him.

"That is the reason you got the job you have. I had to fight to get you. There were many other companies that wanted you badly." Lamar told her.

"And you have to have the best of the best. Daddy, I would love to have this conversation with you, but I really have an appointment to keep." Rayna kissed his cheek.

"Rayna, take a long lunch. You really do work too hard. Maybe give that nice Conrad kid a call." Lamar suggested to her.

"You and Tandy are both incorrigible. Me and Teddy ain't gonna happen. You both need to get it through your heads." Rayna sighed and rolled her eyes.

"You could do worse than a nice boy like that." Lamar arched his eyebrow.

"If you like him so much why don't you date him?" Rayna grabbed for her phone when it rang. "Hello?" She listened to what the caller had to say. "I'll be right down, thank you." She hung up.

"Must you always be so difficult?" Lamar asked her.

"You know that I must. I have to go, daddy. If you need anything while I'm out call." Rayna walked out of her office and left him standing there.

Deacon was waiting for her in the lobby when she came down. His face lit up. "Hey, Ray,"

"Hey, Deacon, I'm sorry I kept you waitin'. My daddy ambushed me. He has just very generously offered to let me take a long lunch. I need to get you outta here before he resends that offer." Rayna looped her arm through his and led him out the door.

"Afraid he's gonna run me off with a shotgun?" Deacon laughed and followed behind her.

"More like have security escort you out. You're not his favorite person and he looks at my ex-boyfriend as the son he never had." Rayna informed him.

"I'm sure he was happy as a clam when you broke up with me." Deacon retorted.

"I can't swear to it, but I think he threw himself a private party the night I broke up with you. He was hungover the next morning and he never gets hungover. He had to have drank a lot of scotch." Rayna teased him.

"I almost drown myself in a whiskey river after you left me." Deacon admitted.

"I had breakfast beers like my name was Vince for a few days." Rayna replied in kind.

"No one can drink more breakfast beers than Vince not even me." Deacon corrected her.

"I gave it a damn good try." Rayna elbowed him playfully.

Deacon smirked at her. "Where do you wanna go for lunch?"

"I thought we could stay close to the office and that way we can spend more time together." Rayna led him to where she wanted to go.

"That sounds perfect." Deacon let her lead him around like he'd always done.

Rayna signaled to the hostess that she was going to take her usual table and she sat down with Deacon. "What's that look for?"

"You're just different that's all." Deacon shrugged his shoulders.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Rayna joked with him.

"It's just a surprisin' thing. I never thought you'd embrace the Belle Meade Princess. She ain't who you are. You're my blue jean and cowboy boot wearin' girl." Deacon winked at her.

"Such a smooth talker." Rayna threw her head back and laughed.

"You've never minded one little bit." Deacon poured on the charm.

"I happen to like it when you're charmin'." Rayna flirted with him.

"You're 'bout the only person who makes me wanna be that way." Deacon flirted back.

"Listen to you sayin' all the right things." Rayna reached across the table and took his hand.

"I've gotten good at some things since I've been away." Deacon smiled.

They paused their conversation when the waitress came by to take their drink order.

"So, what's good here?" Deacon asked her.

"Just save yourself a headache and order the steak. We both know that's what you want anyway." Rayna told him.

"I ain't gonna argue with that. It'll pair well with my beer." Deacon put on a haughty voice.

"Cute, Deac, really cute." Rayna made a show of rolling her eyes at him. Her demeanor changed and the smile fell from her face. "Deacon, I am so sorry."

"Why? What's wrong?" Deacon frowned slightly.

Rayna just put her hands over her face and groaned.

"Rayna, when daddy told me you left for lunch I thought I'd find you here. I thought that Joe and I could join you." Tandy sat down without waiting for an invitation.

"Freakin' Deacon, how the hell are you?" Joe pumped Deacon's hand enthusiastically.

"Hey, Joe, I can't complain. How ya been?" Deacon smiled genuinely.

"I can't complain either. I got a good job and a hot wife." Joe laughed.

"I hear ya, man." Deacon nodded his head.

"Rayna, why don't we leave these two alone to flirt with each other for a minute?" Tandy suggested.

"Sure," Rayna stood up.

The pair headed to the bathroom.

"What the fuck are you thinking, Rayna?" Tandy demanded.

"Tandy, I'm not gonna answer to you about who I spend my time with. I still have feelings for Deacon. I have very strong feelings for him. I keep telling myself that I need to take it slow and get to know him again, but one look in those eyes and I fall deeper in love with him than I've ever been. I've missed him so damn much." Rayna retorted hotly.

"You have Teddy. Why can't you forget Deacon for a guy like him?" Tandy pleaded with her.

"The better question is, why would I forget about Deacon for a guy like Teddy? Deacon is deep and passionate and he makes me feel alive. Teddy is plain and boring and he's only interested in trading on my last name to get a leg up in the world. Why can't you just be happy with what makes me happy? Deacon isn't a bad guy." Rayna reasoned with her.

"Rayna, he's poor and uneducated. You have a bright future and a college education." Tandy pointed out.

"I swear the older you get the more you sound like daddy." Rayna sighed in frustration.

"Because he makes very valid points." Tandy defended herself.

"Deacon isn't poor anymore. I wanted him when he had nothing. That never mattered to me." Rayna ran her hands over her face.

"Alright, he's never done anything to make me mistrust him. I'll give him a chance for you, but know that I'm still going to be pulling for Teddy." Tandy relented.

"You never give up." Rayna chuckled.

"It's why you love me." Tandy put her arm around her shoulders.

When they got back to the table Deacon stood up and took the pager off his belt.

"Damn it, that's Buck. I gotta go find a phone." He checked the display screen.

Rayna took her phone out of her purse. "Use mine." She handed it to him.

"Thanks, Ray, I'll be right back. Order for me please." Deacon stepped away to make his phone call.

"Rayna, I would like to take back the position that I took last night. I was wrong. You and Teddy aren't perfect for each other. You and Deacon are. If there are teams here I would like to be the first to join Team Deacon." Joe said once Deacon had walked away.

"Joe, you're hopeless." Tandy snorted in disgust.

"I forgot how much I like Deacon and Vince. And they are a lot more fun than Teddy." Joe grinned innocently.

"You'd back her up no matter what just to get a rise out of me." Tandy couldn't help smiling back at him.

"He's married to you, Babe, let him take his enjoyment where he can get it." Rayna laughed. She ordered for Deacon when the waitress came back.

Deacon came back to the table a few minutes later. He gave Rayna her phone. "Thank ya, Ray,"

"You're welcome, you need to buy a phone." Rayna told him.

"I'll think 'bout it." Deacon sat down. "Tell me that you don't have any plans tonight, Ray."

"I'm free," Rayna nodded her head.

"Great I'm in the round tonight at the Bluebird. It's nothin' big or fancy. It's just three songs. And I'll be free afterwards." Deacon informed her.

"That sounds great, Deacon." Rayna agreed to go with him.

"Deacon, you're just as bad an influence on her as ever I see. That'll be three nights in a row you've kept her out late on a work night." Tandy gave him a look.

"It only seems like I'm the bad influence 'round here. I promise I didn't teach your baby sister anythin' she didn't already know how to do." Deacon took the comment in stride.

"Tandy," Rayna hissed through clenched teeth.

"What do you say to keeping me out late on a work night?" Joe asked.

"You miss Vinny real bad don't ya, Joe?" Deacon laughed.

"I do I only use you for your friend." Joe played along.

Deacon used a napkin to write down a number. "Call him. He's always up for goin' out. Let me know the details. He will be thrilled to set somethin' up. Tell him that I said no party buses tonight."

"I will pass along the message." Joe smirked.

"I mean it, Joe. I got a damn radio interview tomorrow." Deacon warned him.

"You have no idea how happy you've just made him." Tandy rolled her eyes.

"Ray, I didn't wanna say anythin' in front of sister, but have three songs ready for tonight. Bucky called me on behalf of Watty. He wants me to play guitar for you. I should tell you that my manager is very impressed by you." Deacon told her after lunch.

"Really? Do you know what's goin' on? I hope you don't mind your manager doin' things for me." Rayna gushed.

"I don't know neither one of them apparently trusts me with that information. Ray, you gotta know by now that anythin' I got is yours. I would do anythin' for ya." Deacon smiled at her.

"I'm really glad you just said that. I'm gonna need you to arrange my songs for me. You always make 'em better." Rayna stuck out her bottom lip.

"Of course, I'll do the arrangements for ya." Deacon wrapped his arm around her waist.

Rayna smiled to herself. Spending time with him felt natural. "Now, I need to go fake a headache. Actually, I just need to grab my briefcase. No one really keeps track of anything I do. I need to tell my assistant that I'm leaving for the day."

"Gettin' to spend the afternoon with you sounds perfect to me." Deacon sighed in contentment.

"It sounds pretty damn good to me too." Rayna linked arms with him.

* * *

"Songbird, you sounded great up there tonight." Watty pulled Rayna aside after her performance at the Bluebird.

"Thanks, Watty, what's goin' on here?" Rayna asked.

"Hold on one minute let's wait for Deacon and Bucky." Watty replied.

Deacon walked over with Bucky. "Watty, what did you and my manager get us into?"

"Let's sit and talk for a minute." Bucky got them a table.

Deacon pulled out Rayna's chair for her and sat beside her. "Lay it on me."

"You two are dynamite together. How come I didn't know how good you were? Sam Rhodes from the label just so happened to be in town last night and he caught your little karaoke performance. He loved it. You know that Sam loves you anyway." Bucky began.

"What does that have to do with me?" Rayna asked.

"Sam Rhodes is interested in you, Songbird. He's not the only one though. We need to get you some representation and we need to get you into the studio to cut a demo." Watty answered her.

"Is that where Buck comes in?" Deacon asked.

"It is. He's done great with you like I knew he would. If he gets along with you he's gonna get along with Rayna. I like to play Uncle Watty to ya'll." Watty replied.

"Rayna, what this means for you is we have some options. We recorded your performance tonight. Sam Rhodes was here tonight and I happen to know he felt very favorably about you. We had Deacon play guitar for you, because everyone who has heard you play guitar knows you aren't very good and like I said Sam loves Deacon. He's talked my ear off today about how much he loves you and Deacon together." Bucky spoke up.

"Wow, I'm just floored." Rayna's jaw hung open.

"I understand that feeling. When I got Deacon to sit down with Sam for the first time he was like a fish outta water. Luckily he and Sam speak the same language. They signed his contract out on a fishing boat. If I can get you placed with Red River Records it would be a great fit. We are gonna see what everyone has to offer first." Bucky calmed her down effortlessly.

"That sounds like the Deacon I know." Rayna smiled.

"Sam has a really nice bass boat and he tolerates Vince that's all I can ask for." Deacon chuckled.

"Vince is a little much to ask anyone to deal with." Rayna gave him a look.

"Deacon, the other reason you're here. We want one of the songs on her demo to be a duet. Something that you two write together. And of course, we want you to play guitar for her." Watty laid out for him.

"It goes without sayin' that I'm gonna play guitar for her. She needs to sound her best. We can put a duet together." Deacon agreed.

"We would have to take the time to write a new song, but yeah we can do that." Rayna tried to contain her excitement.

"There's one more thing that we need to talk about." Bucky said seriously.

"I'm all ears." Rayna replied.

"Rayna, there's gonna be an issue with getting labels in this town to look at you with the last name Wyatt. No one wants to cross Lamar when it comes to one of his girls." Watty informed her.

"Watty, it's my name I don't know what to do about that." Rayna stumbled for words.

"It's just something to think about. You don't have to decide right now." Bucky told her.

"I will think about it for sure." Rayna agreed.

"I guess I will come by your office tomorrow and talk about my contract with you. You're a business major I really don't have to explain it to you. It's really a standard boiler plate thing. It's the same contract he has with me." Bucky pointed at Deacon.

"Bucky, how about I pay you for your time and if it works out I'll sign the contract." Rayna suggested.

"Oh, that's right you have the money to pay me up front unlike my other and only client." Bucky glared playfully at Deacon.

"Hey, your contact expired a year ago and you're still gettin' paid." Deacon defended himself.

"You have money now and I don't have to worry." Bucky pointed out to him.

"Is that everything?" Rayna asked.

"That is everything. I will call you and set up a time for you to get into the studio." Watty told her.

"And I will set up all your meetings. You're gonna wanna work on the name you wanna use. I gave you all my contact info last night. You know how to get ahold of me if you need me." Bucky added.

"Come on, Ray, let's get out of here before these two talk us into sellin' our souls to the devil." Deacon stood up.

"Right, we are just gonna go meet with two people who I'm reasonably sure have sold their souls to the devil." Rayna referred to Joe and Tandy.

"You might wanna add Vince to that list." Deacon took her arm.

* * *

Rayna woke up the next morning with a loud groan.

"Shh, I'm pretty sure I'm dying." Tandy swatted at her sister.

"Why the hell are you in my bed?" Rayna grabbed her forehead.

"Unless you started sleeping on sheets made of sandpaper I don't think we are in your bed. And unless you have a sudden never ending supply of flannel I don't think we're in your apartment." Tandy looked around.

Rayna groaned again as the events of the night before came back to her. "This is Deacon's place. We were all way too drunk to make it anywhere else."

"What time is it?" Tandy rolled over and looked at the bedside clock. "We are so late for work."

Rayna got up and put on a pair of Deacon's boxers. She took a flannel shirt from his closet and buttoned it up. "Right now being late for work is the least of my concerns."

"You're mighty comfortable going through his things and wearing his clothes." Tandy observed.

"We dated for a long time, Tandy. This isn't the first time that I've stayed the night with him or wore his clothes." Rayna retorted.

"Where do you think my husband is?" Tandy changed the subject.

"He's probably out there with Deacon and Vince." Rayna opened the bedroom door and walked out.

"Hey, you're finally up." Deacon was at the stove making breakfast.

"Rayna, how the hell is he up like he didn't drink as much as the rest of did last night?" Tandy looked at him like he was crazy.

"For Deacon and Vince that was a regular night." Rayna stole Deacon's coffee from him and took a drink.

"I see you're just helpin' yourself to what's mine this mornin'." Deacon winked at her.

"I always have I don't know why you'd expect anythin' different from me." Rayna grinned.

"I called into the office for you two. Your father then called me back and told me to tell you to take the day." Joe spoke up.

"Joe, you're a wonderful man and this is why I love you." Tandy pecked his lips.

"We are gonna have so much to explain to him at our customary end of the week dinner tonight." Rayna sighed.

"We will get silent disapproval if he's really mad at us. He will get over it." Tandy reassured her.

"That's generally how I feel when I do things that I know will displease him." Rayna shrugged her shoulders.

Deacon picked out a tune on his guitar absent mindedly while he watched Rayna write. He was once again struck by her sheer beauty. She was the most beautiful woman in the world to him and she didn't even realize it.

Rayna looked up from her notepad and blushed when she caught him staring. His eyes had a way of seeing into her very soul. "What are you lookin' at me like that for?"

"Lookin' at you like what?" Deacon grinned.

"Like you know what I look like naked. I'm tryin' to write a song and I can't do that with you lookin' at me like that." Rayna glared at him.

"I do know what you look like naked. That's pretty hard to forget." Deacon shot back.

"For right now you need to forget. We have to get this new song done and it's bein' a bear." Rayna sighed.

"Do you remember how we used to write songs?" Deacon bit his lip.

"I know how we used to write songs." Rayna looked away from him.

"We wrote some really great songs that way." Deacon scooted closer to her.

"Deacon," Rayna said his name in a warning tone.

"What?" Deacon grinned sexily.

"You know what. We are supposed to be takin' it slow and gettin' to know each other again." Rayna pointed out to him.

"Ray, I don't think that either of us have changed fundamentally. I think you really hate workin' for your father and you rather be doin' what you're doin' right now. I think that you still love me. I know that I still love you. I think you did what you thought you had to do when you broke up with me. You set me free and you put yourself into a prison. Now, it's my turn to return the favor." Deacon spoke from his heart.

"Deacon, I don't know what to say to that." Rayna was at a loss for words.

"Rayna, I'm done talkin'." Deacon leaned over and kissed her deeply.

Rayna put her hands on his cheeks and kissed him back with just as much passion.

* * *

"Rayna, it's nice of you to finally join us." Lamar greeted his daughter when she walked into the country club.

"Sorry, daddy, I've had a very busy day." Rayna took a seat.

"When Joe called in this morning he said that you and Tandy were both under the weather." Lamar gave her a knowing look.

"Ok, you caught me. I was hungover. You were the one who told me I was working too hard." Rayna reminded him.

"Do I want to know who you were drinking with?" Lamar asked.

"I wasn't drinking with anyone you know." Rayna took a sip of water.

"I'm not as unaware of what's going on in your life as you'd like to think. Deacon Claybourne was in the building yesterday and I know that's the phone call you got before you left." Lamar dared her to lie to him.

"Daddy, I'm a grown woman. Deacon isn't the devil you think he is. And how did you find out he was in the building?" Rayna asked.

"The receptionists talk to each other and they happen to be country music fans. That got back to Alfred and he told me. I thought there was a pretty good chance he was there to see you." Lamar answered her.

"You have nothing to worry about." Rayna assured him.

"Am I also not supposed to know that you've been playing that hillbilly music again?" Lamar arched his eyebrow at her.

"I wasn't keepin' it a secret. I just didn't think you'd be interested in hearing about it. I'm not sixteen anymore, daddy. As much as you don't like it you're not gonna stop me from it anymore." Rayna forced a smile.

"Can we have one dinner where you two don't argue?" Tandy stepped in.

"We aren't arguing we are merely having a discussion." Lamar corrected her.

"With you two that's pretty much the same thing." Joe pointed out.

"Joe, Rayna can vocally spar with me better than anyone else. She doesn't need you to defend her." Lamar called his son-in-law down.

"There's nothin' to defend. I'm not doin' a thing wrong." Rayna got the last word in on that matter.

"I can tell that you've been hanging around that Claybourne boy again. You're sounding like your mother." Lamar retorted.

"I'm entitled to that. Daddy, we have been getting along very well lately. I'm sure that's mostly because I've been doin' what you want me to, but I'm still gonna do what I wanna do too." Rayna stared him down.

"I think you two can call a cease fire. You both got your shots in." Tandy tried to smooth things over.

"I'll behave if he returns the favor." Rayna relented.

"Alright, I'm finished. I'm wasting my breath anyway." Lamar laid down his guns.

"These dinners are a lot more fun when we all get along." Joe quipped.

"Mhmm, whatever you say, Joe." Rayna rolled her eyes. Deacon had been right when he said that she wasn't happy in her father's world. She could feel the tug of her mother's world pulling her to the other side.

* * *

A/N: Here is the next chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Until next time please review.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers.

* * *

Chapter 4

Deacon threw open the apartment door in response to the knock. "Hey, Ray, come on in." His face lit up when he saw her.

"Sorry I'm late. I had dinner with my father tonight. He is a crazy person and he wouldn't allow anyone to leave until we paid up for our bets on the stock market this week." Rayna came inside.

Deacon arched an eyebrow at her. "I have no idea what you're talkin' 'bout."

"We bet on the stock market every week. We place our bets on Sunday and we pay up on Friday. It's daddy's idea of family unity." Rayna explained to him. She kicked off her heels and headed to his bedroom.

"Oh, babe, I have got to get you out of that place." Deacon sat down on the couch with his guitar.

Rayna came out of his bedroom dressed in one of his flannel shirts. "I know, that job and my family are killin' my soul a little bit."

"That's why we need to finish this song we started workin' on. It's gonna be damn hard with you dressed like that though." Deacon drank her in with his eyes.

"I had to get comfortable. I can't write a song in my work clothes. I didn't see a point botherin' with pants. It ain't like you haven't seen me like this before." Rayna smirked to herself. She picked up a pen and notepad.

"Exactly, you can't blame me for not bein' able to concentrate and be all over ya. I know what you look like underneath that flannel shirt. How am I supposed to be able to write knowin' what you look like under there and know how your bare skin feels against mine?" Deacon reasoned with her.

"I let you make out with me and feel me up yesterday. You're not gettin' any more than that without takin' me on a date first, Claybourne." Rayna tried to concentrate on the song they were writing.

"You act like I ain't ever taken you on a date before, Wyatt." Deacon strummed a tune on his guitar.

"I really wish you wouldn't bring up my father's last name when we are tryin' to write. There's somethin' about his presence in my life that blocks me up when I'm tryin' to be creative." Rayna grumbled.

"Trouble in paradise again?" Deacon knew how contentious her relationship with her father was.

"When isn't there? He's happy with me right now because I'm doing what he thinks I should be doing with my life. He's still pushing my ex-boyfriend on me. He really hates you. I wouldn't in the least bit surprised if he threw roadblocks up in our way. He tried it when I was younger and it didn't work. It's not gonna work now either." Rayna put her hand on his knee.

"You know that there ain't a thing he can do to keep me away from you. I ain't goin' anywhere, Ray. I wouldn't have gone anywhere the last time 'cept you asked me to. I came back to time 'cause I was done givin' you space. Don't you worry that your daddy is gonna chase me away." Deacon leaned over and kissed her cheek.

"I should have never asked you for the space. Truthfully, I shouldn't have gone to college. I regret it, but I don't. I'm good at what I do, but I hate it. If I don't get out soon I'm gonna lose my mind. I feel myself slowly suffocating." Rayna groaned.

"Maybe we needed the time apart to grow as people or some other poetic bullshit like that." Deacon grinned at her sexily.

"How lucky am I to have a guy like you as mine?" Rayna rolled her eyes at him.

"You are the luckiest woman in the world and don't you forget it." Deacon winked.

"With as romantic as you are I can't imagine why I broke up with you. I had a boyfriend who took me on expensive dates, bought me flowers, and wrote me absolutely terrible poetry. But, me the genius that I am I choose the guy with a rusty pickup truck and beat up guitar. It's hard to believe that I have a college degree." Rayna teased him.

"I didn't have any money, I bought you sentimental gifts that would last longer than flowers, and I write you good songs." Deacon bantered back.

"You also stayed with me when leaving me would have been easier on you. You put up with whatever my daddy and sister threw at you. You're not polished or even refined, but I know I felt more passion when I saw you across the room at the Bluebird than I did the whole time I was with Teddy." Rayna replied seriously.

"There's a whole lotta water under our bridge, but I rather drown tryin' to swim to you on the other side of the bank than stand up on dry land." Deacon waxed poetic.

"And there it was. The lyrical poetry that comes to you so easily. That quiet passion that doesn't sound like it could come from a man who looks like you. The reason why you're the only man on earth who can make me feel like I'm alive. The reason that I love you. I do love you, Deacon, and that has never not been true." Rayna spoke from her heart.

"I love you too, Ray. There ain't a river I wouldn't cross to get to you. And there ain't nothin' I'd let keep us apart." Deacon kissed her when he finished speaking.

"I think we just found our song." Rayna pulled away from him and started scribbling furiously on the notepad. It was just a basic idea and he would polish up her lyrics and arrange the song like he always did.

* * *

" _The rivers between us are deep and dark as the secrets we keep. We stand on the shores time movin' by at our feet. Oh, the rivers between us are deep."_ Rayna and Deacon stared into each other's eyes as they sang. Their faces were close together and they shared a mic.

They were in the studio cutting their last demo track.

" _Our love is like the moon. Risin' too fast fadin' too soon. The night will soon be gone. Help me hold on."_

"Wow, I heard them sing together at the Bluebird and I thought it was great. This is," Bucky made a gesture with his hands. "I don't even know that there are words for what this is."

"That's how I felt the first time I heard them together. This is a song they wrote. This is their truth. No one does it quite as well as they do." Watty replied.

"He's a great artist. The label loves him. He works well with other people, but I've never seen anything like this with him." Bucky was blown away by their chemistry.

" _There are kingdoms to keep us apart. So we live out our lives in the dark. Love has a way of makin' you pay with your heart. There are kingdoms to keep us apart."_

"You haven't seen anything yet. This is just the tip of the iceberg. They get even better than this." Watty smiled.

"Sam is gonna love this. I can milk a really good deal for her out of this." Bucky said. He sighed in wonder. "Wow, this is magic."

" _Our love is like the moon. Risin' too fast fadin' too soon. The night will soon be gone. Help me hold on."_

" _Help me hold on,"_ Deacon crooned to end the song.

Watty clapped his hands. "That was perfect. You two are back."

"Thanks, Watty," Deacon replied.

"Do we need to do another take?" Rayna asked.

"That was the take we are gonna use. It was perfect, Songbird." Watty answered her.

"Deacon, that right there is what you need to be writing from now on. That's your wheel house." Bucky chimed in.

"Thanks, Buck," Deacon nodded his head at him.

"Sam is gonna love that song. I'm not concerned with that as much as I'm concerned with you sounding better." Bucky replied.

"I don't really give much of a damn I'm just concerned with playin' my music for someone." Deacon retorted.

"He makes it sound so simple doesn't he?" Rayna looped her arm through his.

"He makes it simple for himself. The rest of it he has me to take care of." Bucky informed her.

"You're lucky that you get him to show up on time where he's supposed to be. Don't push your luck with him." Rayna laughed.

"I will thank you both kindly not to talk 'bout me like I ain't standin' here." Deacon snorted.

"Neither one of them said anythin' that wasn't true, Deac." Vince walked over and slung his arm around his shoulders.

"Vinny, as usual you're not helpin' the situation." Deacon glared at his best friend.

"Have I ever tried to be helpful?" Vince countered.

"No one will ever accuse you of that." Rayna chimed in.

"Ray, you know you love me and you missed me." Vince smirked at her.

"Don't make me lie, Vince." Rayna rolled her eyes at him.

"You secretly want a piece of this." Vince licked his lips.

"That could not be further from the truth. Vince if you and a dirty homeless guy were the last two men on earth I'd take him over you. Bless your heart, sugar." Rayna grinned.

"Deac, I don't know why you're so crazy 'bout that girl. She is evil. That was some bad juju she just put on me." Vince stuck his tongue out at her.

"Ray, that is bad juju. You don't just say that for no reason." Deacon sided with Vince.

"I really don't know how I deal with the two of you together." Rayna sighed loudly.

"I don't know how anyone puts up with those two. They told me that there was a girl who could do it. I told them that no girl could handle them she would have to be one hell of a woman and I was right. If I weren't paid to put up with them I wouldn't be so nice to them." Bucky told her.

"They are both harmless at least Deacon is." Rayna shot a look at Vince. "I'm not so sure about that thing he calls his best friend sometimes."

"That was uncalled for." Vince clutched his chest like he was hurt.

"I'm pretty sure that you had that one coming for something I didn't know about." Rayna shot back.

"She's got you there, Vinny." Deacon laughed.

"Deacon, you don't do anything to help the situation." Bucky shook his head.

"This is my idea of fun." Deacon shrugged his shoulders.

Bucky rolled his eyes. "God help me."

* * *

"Ms. Wyatt," Donna, Rayna's personal assistant knocked on her door.

"Donna, how many times do I have to ask you to call me by my name?" Rayna looked up from what she was doing.

"Always," Donna laughed softly. "You have a visitor. He says that his name is Bucky Dawes and you'll know why he's here."

"Send him in and shut the door behind you please." Rayna replied.

Bucky came in and sat down across from her. "I hope you don't mind that I just stopped by like this."

"Of course, not. You just gave everyone in the office somethin' to talk about. They will be wonderin' what I'm up to this time." Rayna smirked.

"I came by to give you some good news. Red River Records wants you badly. Sam Rhodes is chomping at the bits to sign you to the label. I'm fielding multiple calls about you today. We just sent that demo out and it's playing well. Sam is still in town and he was hoping that you could meet with him after you get off work today." Bucky explained to her.

"Wow, Bucky, that's great." Rayna's smile turned genuine.

Bucky reached into the shoulder bag he'd brought with him and pulled out a contract. "This is a standard contract that says I'm your manager and that I can talk to people on your behalf. I know you said that you'd pay me as we go and there's no need to put you on a payment plan."

"This is just boiler plate right? Nothing crazy?" Rayna looked over the contract.

"Nothing crazy at all. Just the regular stuff." Bucky reassured her.

Rayna signed the contract and handed it back to him. "There you go. Do your thing. I'm gonna trust you."

"I will prove that you're not wrong to put your trust in me." Bucky promised.

"If you can handle Deacon I think you can take care of me just fine. If he trusts you I know I can trust you." Rayna smiled.

"You two really have no idea how much stock you put in what the other thinks." Bucky observed.

"We were kids when we dated before. It was this whole the two of us against the world thing. That's why we trust each other so much now." Rayna tried to explain it to him. There was really no way to explain what she and Deacon had together.

"Whatever else you two are, you're magic together." Bucky retorted.

"I know, between you and me I will love that man until I die." Rayna admitted.

"I don't know what the hell I've gotten myself into, but I'm gonna go set up that meeting with Sam for you after work." Bucky shook his head.

"Thanks, Bucky, I really appreciate it." Rayna told him.

"It's my job. Though if you can keep him out of trouble I owe you one." Bucky stuffed the contract back in his bag and shook her hand before he left. He turned around and when he remembered something. "Also think about the stage name you want to use." He reminded her.

"Will do, Bucky," Rayna agreed.

* * *

"Where you at on me, Ray? You seem like you're a million miles from here right now." Deacon asked. He was laid out on a picnic blanket. Rayna laid with her head on his chest.

"I'm just thinking. I didn't expect everything to happen so fast." Rayna looked up at him. He had surprised her with a picnic in the park for her lunch break.

"Bucky and Watty are both good at what they do. Sam wants what he wants and he wants it right now. He sees how great you are." Deacon rubbed her back.

"How long do you think him and Watty have had this in the works?" Rayna mused.

"I have no idea. I'm not privy to those kinds of state secrets." Deacon grinned down at her.

"Would you knock that off? You're smarter than you give yourself credit for." Rayna smacked his chest. She hated it when he was down on himself.

"I know that, but Watty and Buck have been plannin' shit behind my back. I have no clue what they are up to. Watty is a crazy old man and Buck goes along with him, 'cause he thinks he has good ideas." Deacon grabbed her wrists and held them in one hand. "Play nice,"

"Never," Rayna said stubbornly. She kept fighting against him.

"Why must you always fight me?" Deacon laughed at how stubborn she was.

"Because I don't do things the easy way. I'm a lot like my momma that way." Rayna smirked at him.

Deacon let go of her writs. "Tell me what you were thinkin' 'bout besides how Watty and Bucky work their magic."

"I still need a stage name. I have no idea what I want to go by. The harder I think about it the more it eludes me." Rayna admitted.

"I think you have the name you just don't know it yet." Deacon rolled out from under her and grabbed his guitar. He started to pick out a tune.

Rayna looked at him and then her eyes lit up when she recognized the song he was playing. "You really think so?"

"I think that before I came along that was the most important person in your life. I think that's the missin' piece of who you are." Deacon replied.

"I just don't know how well that would go over. I don't want it to seem like I'm tryin' to cash in on the name. And I don't wanna upset that crazy man too much." Rayna sighed.

"Ray, you've tried livin' in your daddy's world for way too long and we all know that it ain't workin' out for you. It's time you gave your momma's world a try." Deacon advised her.

"Rayna Jaymes it is then." Rayna smiled up at him.

"It's got a ring to it." Deacon grinned back at her.

"I do like the way that sounds." Rayna agreed.

"It fits you perfectly." Deacon replied.

"You just think I'm perfect." Rayna pointed out to him.

"You've always known that." Deacon stole a kiss from her.

* * *

A/N: Here is the next chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it. I'm sorry for the long wait and that it's a little short. I've just had some stuff going on. Until next time please review.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers.

* * *

Chapter 5

Rayna sat in a chair fidgeting around. She was in the waiting room of Red River Records' Nashville office. She was waiting for her meeting with Sam Rhodes.

Bucky reached over and put his hand on top of hers. "Relax, you are going to do great. Don't be nervous. Sam is a very laid back guy. He already loves your voice you have to make sure he likes you just as much. You've got a quality about you. You are going to do fine."

"Easy for you to say. He has my career in his hands." Rayna groaned.

"Before you go in there let me remind you that Sam Rhodes isn't the only game in town." Bucky advised her.

"I know he's not. I haven't done this before." Rayna took a breath to calm herself.

"You're gonna be great. You know how to talk business." Bucky reassured her.

"Normally when I make a business deal my future isn't hanging in the balance." Rayna closed her eyes.

"You've got the skills and you've got the charm. Just be yourself. When I say be yourself I mean be the person that I met at the Ryman the other night. Don't be the person I talked to in your office this afternoon. I don't know you that well, but I already have a sense of who the real you is." Buck tried to pump her up.

"I can do that." Rayna nodded her head.

A man in his thirties stepped out into the waiting area. He was dressed in all denim. There was a bolo tie around his neck and cowboy boots on his feet. "Buck, it's good to see you as always." He offered his hand to the other man.

"It's good to see you too, Sam." Bucky tried to match Sam's iron grip.

"And you must be Rayna." Sam turned to Rayna.

Rayna gave him her most charming smile. "Hi, it's very nice to meet you."

"I never say no to meetin' a pretty lady." Sam took her hand and kissed it.

"Lucky for you I'm a sucker for a man in denim." Rayna retorted.

"Buck, I like her." Sam smiled widely.

"You already liked her voice. It's hard not to like the whole package." Bucky built her up.

"Damn, let's take this to my office, 'fore I let ya'll talk me outta my shirt right here in public." Sam led them back to his office.

"Let's talk some business, Sam." Bucky shot straight with him.

"We won't beat around the bush then." Sam picked up a contract and handed it to him. "Look at that over while I talk to her."

"Ok," Bucky leafed through the contract.

"Rayna, we have big plans for you." Sam turned to Rayna again.

"Plans so big that you rather Bucky look at the contract, so I don't see any inconsistencies?" Rayna arched her eyebrow.

"You're a spitfire I really like you." Sam grinned.

"What's in the contract you don't want me to see?" Rayna pressed him harder.

Bucky kept his face hid behind the document so his smile didn't show.

"I forgot that you were a business major. There's nothin' in that contract I don't want you to see. I'm more interested in tellin' you my plans for you. You're a pup in the business world when compared to Bucky. Let him do his job and I can do mine." Sam tried to disarm her.

"Alright, I'll let you tell me your plan, but I'm still gonna look over that contract before I sign it." Rayna replied.

Sam laughed lowly. "Fair enough," he agreed. "My plan for you is to trot you out next to Deacon. We will have ya'll play that duet. We are gonna set up a series of appearances around town and interviews over the phone. Your first single will be one of the songs you performed on the demo. We are gonna get you into the studio and really clean 'em up. You're a Nashville native and you're so personable. Plus, your momma was a country star in her own right. We are gonna play all of it up and get you maximum exposure."

"You're gonna come to find that I'm my momma with just a little of my daddy mixed in for good measure." Rayna looked him in the eyes.

"Now, let's talk your deal. It's a development deal of sorts. You have a solid contract, but we have the option to drop you after one album if you aren't workin' out. Take this from a man who has built a label around Deacon Claybourne, you ain't goin' anywhere. It's for both of our peace of mind. If we ain't workin' out for each other we have options this way. I happen to think that you are gonna be a superstar." Sam leveled with her.

"Sam, we have a few other offers that we want to look over first. We will get back to you." Bucky interrupted. He didn't want her to say yes right away and seem too eager.

"Well, you just take your time with that." Sam rapped his knuckles on top of his desk.

"You will hear from us soon, Sam." Bucky offered his hand.

Sam shook his hand. "I look forward to hearin' from you, Buck." He kissed Rayna's hand again. "I hope that we will be doin' a lot of work together in the future."

"I'll be looking forward to it." Rayna smiled at him.

"Rayna, you killed it in there." Bucky praised her when they walked out of the office.

"I just did what you told me to do. I was myself." Rayna replied.

"You were amazing." Bucky hugged her.

"Thanks, Buck." Rayna blushed a little bit.

Deacon stood across the street leaning up against the front fender of his truck.

"I think your knight in rusty pickup truck is here. You better go over and say hi to him." Bucky smiled.

"Buck, would you sign the contract if you were me?" Rayna asked him.

"You're gonna sign the contract. Right now you're gonna go celebrate with him." Bucky pointed her in Deacon's direction.

Deacon straightened up and smiled sexily when she walked towards him. "Hey, Ray, there you are."

"What are you doing here?" Rayna smiled widely.

"I heard that you might be havin' a very good day and I wanted to be here for you." Deacon took her into his arms and kissed the top of her head.

"I'm really glad that you're here." Rayna hugged him tightly.

"Tell me how it went." Deacon wanted to hear every detail.

"It went great. Sam offered me a contract. I think Bucky wants to play hard to get and pretend that we are playing hard to get. I would use the same strategy if I were in charge. It's a great plan." Rayna replied.

"Ray, that's great. I'm so proud of you." Deacon tilted her chin and kissed her.

"I just can't believe you bothered to show up." Rayna wrapped her arms around him.

"I couldn't think of any place I rather be right now. I was there with you at the start and I wanted to be here for this." Deacon held her tight.

"I'm really glad that you're here. You were the first person I wanted to share this news with." Rayna rubbed her nose against his.

"I wanted to be the first one you showed this news with. I didn't think the news would be bad so I took a small liberty." Deacon reached into the truck and pulled out a bouquet of roses. "These are for you. Congratulations, Ray, I knew that you could do this." He handed them to her.

Rayna cradled the flowers in her arms. "Damn, I love you."

"I love you too, baby." Deacon pecked her lips over and over.

"I love you more. Now, what are you doing here?" Rayna smiled.

"I'm takin' you on a date." Deacon offered her his arm.

"I don't mind if I do." Rayna lopped her arm through his.

Deacon opened the passenger door for her and helped her climb in. "Watch your step."

"I've got it. I've been climbin' up in your truck for years." Rayna smiled at him.

"I know, I love the way you look in my passenger seat." Deacon ran around the truck and got into the driver's seat.

* * *

"Wow, Deacon, I can't believe I let you take me to bed after takin' me a little hole in the wall restaurant to eat." Rayna laid on her back panting heavily.

"I knew that it would work with you." Deacon chuckled softly. He wrapped his arm around her and kissed her temple.

"You are so cocky and sure of yourself. There was a good chance that wasn't gonna work." Rayna threw her leg over his hip.

"And there was a great chance that it would." Deacon pinched her ass.

Rayna yelped and buried her face in his chest. "Hey!"

"Have I ever told you that you have a really pert little tush?" Deacon laughed deep in his chest.

"I think the words you used were 'You have a great ass, Ray.'" Rayna corrected him.

"You do have a great ass, Ray." Deacon smacked her ass cheek.

"You have a way with words." Rayna buried her face in his neck and giggled.

Deacon ghosted his fingers up and down her back. "You make me forget how to form coherent sentences."

"That's the idea." Rayna kissed his neck.

"You tryin' to go for round two already?" Deacon flipped them over so that he was on top of her.

"I don't think I need to give you any encouragement. I never have." Rayna laughed.

"Only 'cause I can't get enough of ya." Deacon pressed his lips to hers.

"Show me," Rayna challenged him.

Deacon didn't have to be told twice. He slid into her with a loud moan.

"I know that I'm probably gonna regret this, but we have a stupid dinner tomorrow night and I was hoping you would come as my date." Rayna kissed his chest after they had gone for round two.

"You tryin' to give your daddy a heart attack?" Deacon laughed deep in his chest.

"I am tryin' to give him a heart attack. If he loves me as much as he says he does he will learn to deal with you." Rayna replied.

"If it means that much to you I'll come." Deacon agreed.

"I love you." Rayna grinned up at him.

"I love you too, Ray." Deacon kissed the top of her head.

"I'm gonna call daddy's tailor and get you in for a fitting." Rayna told him.

"You ain't gotta fix me up with your daddy's tailor." Deacon assured her.

"Yes, I do. I've been through your closet you don't own a suit." Rayna pointed out to him.

"Ray, I'll be honest with you. I have more money than I used to, but I still ain't got the money to afford somethin' like that." Deacon chewed on his bottom lip.

"Don't be like that, babe. I'm gonna buy you a suit. Lord knows if I don't know one else will. You need a good suit. If I get this for you I'll know that you'll have a nice one. Please don't be weird 'bout my money." Rayna retorted.

"If you wanna buy me a suit I won't argue." Deacon relented.

"I love you when you give me my way." Rayna teased him.

"I love how happy you get when I give you your way." Deacon rubbed his nose against hers.

* * *

"So, when are you gonna tell me about the meeting you had in here yesterday?" Tandy walked into Rayna's office without bothering to knock.

"Hey, Tandy, nice to see you too." Rayna snorted.

"Spill, I want to know what's going on with you." Tandy stared her down.

"It was a friend of mine that's all." Rayna lied.

"I don't believe you for a minute." Tandy arched her eyebrow.

"Why would I tell you knowin' that you're just gonna go back and tell daddy?" Rayna countered.

"I don't tell him everything. If the secret's good enough I don't have to tell him." Tandy leaned forward on her elbows.

"This news he needs to find out from me. If he hears it from anyone, but me he's gonna have a fit. He's gonna have a fit anyway. This isn't gonna be a thing that he wants to hear." Rayna admitted.

"What did you do?" Tandy asked her.

"The guy who came to see me yesterday is my manager. I have a few different labels interested in signing me." Rayna explained.

"I just hope you know what you're doing." Tandy shrugged her shoulders.

"That's it? That's all you have to say? No big lecture?" Rayna was surprised by her sister's reaction.

"Rayna, if I've learned one thing it's that you can't be told what to do. It's your life. You have to make the choices that you think are right for you." Tandy pointed out.

"I know what I'm doin', Tandy. I need you to trust me on this." Rayna sighed.

"I should probably just be thankful that you have a backup plan now. If this music thing doesn't work out for you will always have a job. Daddy isn't gonna be happy at all." Tandy replied.

"I know that he's gonna have a cow. He's just gonna have to learn to live with it." Rayna shrugged her shoulders.

"He's gonna be livid. I will let you deal with him when the time is right." Tandy didn't envy her baby sister on that one.

"I'm putting that off for as long as possible. I'm gonna tempt fate tonight though. I invited Deacon as my date to this stupid charity thing." Rayna informed her.

"Joe will love you for that." Tandy had to chuckle on that one.

"I am here for Joe's amusement obviously." Rayna rolled her eyes.

"Sometimes I think he likes you better than he likes me." Tandy retorted.

"He absolutely likes me better than you. I'm the fun sister." Rayna winked at her.

"I'm gonna go back to my office now. I can't talk to you when you get like this." Tandy shook her head.

"You know you love me." Rayna smirked.

"I don't know why sometimes." Tandy quipped.

* * *

"Wow, look at you in that suit." Rayna opened her apartment door to find Deacon dressed in his new suit.

Deacon pulled on the collar of his shirt. "Don't get used to it, I feel like I'm in a prison."

"But, you look so handsome." Rayna pecked his cheek gently, so she didn't mess up her lipstick.

"You would be gorgeous in a flour sack." Deacon smiled. "We ready to go do this thing?"

"We are just waitin' on the limo." Rayna informed him.

"Limo?" Deacon arched his eyebrow.

"Lamar Wyatt's daughter can't show up to a charity event in her boyfriend's pickup truck." Rayna took his hand.

"We can't have that." Deacon agreed.

"However, I'm not opposed to going on all our dates in that truck." Rayna winked at him.

"Though, I think there are things we can do in a limo that we can't do when I'm drivin'." Deacon wiggled his eyebrows.

"That sounds like a plan to me." Rayna jumped at that idea.

"Deacon, I'm glad that you could make it." Joe greeted him with a warm handshake.

"It's good to see you too, Joe." Deacon gripped his hand in a friendly manner.

"Deacon," Tandy nodded stiffly in his direction.

"Tandy, it's nice to see you as always." Deacon smiled warmly.

Rayna flashed her sister a look. "Tandy,"

"I was nice. I didn't call him a jackass or anything." Tandy defended herself.

"It was implied." Rayna corrected her.

"Uh, that may be the least of your problems." Joe grabbed two drinks off the tray of a passing waiter. "Deacon, you're gonna need that." He handed him one of the drinks.

"Thank you," Deacon took the drink without question.

"What do you mean, Joe?" Rayna asked.

"I mean look who is coming this way." Joe gestured with his head towards Lamar who was headed their way with Teddy in tow.

"Shit," Rayna cussed lowly.

"You've got that right." Tandy agreed with her.

"Rayna, look who I found." Lamar had a big smile on his face and his hand on Teddy's shoulder.

"Daddy, you really shouldn't encourage him. I've told him no multiple times now." Rayna retorted.

"Rayna, you could do worse than a young man like him." Lamar went on like he hadn't heard her.

"Daddy, you remember Deacon, don't you?" Rayna changed the subject.

"I do," Lamar said stiffly.

"Good to see you again, Mr. Wyatt." Deacon offered his hand.

Lamar shook his hand. "Same here,"

Teddy stood there with an awkward look on his face.

"Teddy Conrad, this is Deacon Claybourne." Rayna introduced the pair.

"I've heard you on the radio haven't I?" Teddy shook hands with Deacon.

"Guilty as charged there." Deacon gripped his hand as tightly as he could in a show of dominance.

"How do you know Rayna?" Teddy asked.

"Ray, and I go way back." Deacon was cryptic in his answer.

"Teddy, Deacon is and was my boyfriend before college. We sorta took up right where we left off." Rayna let him know in the politest way possible that he no longer had a chance with her.

"You're the ex," Teddy said knowingly.

"Guilty as charged there too." Deacon smirked smugly.

"Well, this is one hell of a woman. You do right by her or I'll come looking for you." Teddy replied.

"The only reason I went away before was 'cause she asked me to. I gave her time to sort things out in her own mind then I had to come back for her." Deacon put his arm around her waist.

"I admire your devotion. I don't know that I could have done it. She's damn hard to lose." Teddy smiled a little.

"I only said I left 'cause she asked me to. I didn't say a thing 'bout not lovin' her." Deacon looked him square in the eyes.

"I better go mingle." Teddy excused himself.

"I think that's a good idea." Joe told him. The look he gave the younger man told him to give it up, Rayna was a lost cause.

* * *

A/N: Here is the next chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it. I'm sorry for the long wait lately. My dad was just in the hospital for two weeks and I didn't have much time to write. He's finally home and I'm back now. Until next time please review.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers.

* * *

Chapter 6

"Rayna, I can't tell you how happy I am to have you aboard. You'll be hearin' from me in a few days. I knew that you'd do the right thing and sign the contract." Sam smile from the other side of his desk.

"I was impressed. I only found three mistakes in your contract." Rayna smirked.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I think I'm gettin' you out of that line of work just before you lose your soul." Sam observed.

"You're not wrong. I'm very good at what I do, but I hate it. It's not like I have a choice though Wyatt's aren't average." Rayna snorted.

"You're not a Wyatt anymore, not in name, anyway. You're a Jaymes now." Sam reminded her.

"Thank God for that." Rayna sighed in relief.

"Rayna, I really meant it when I said welcome. You'll be the jewel of our label to balance out that diamond in the rough we built this whole thing around." Sam joked.

"That's what you get for building your label around an unpredictable redneck." Rayna shrugged.

"He's not unpredictable you, though, is he?" Sam asked.

"I can predict which way he's gonna be unpredictable." Rayna laughed a little bit.

"That's gonna come in handy. Maybe you can reign him and that band of his in a little bit. They are all extremely talented, but they can sure make a mess." Sam grunted.

"Vince is the ringleader when it comes to that. He just doesn't know how to behave around civilized people. I don't think he can help himself. The funny thing is he comes from as much money as I do. This is how he rebels." Rayna retorted.

"I wish he would rebel on someone else's dime." Sam sighed.

"I don't think he can help himself. For as long as I've known Vince I'm been convinced that he's a functional alcoholic." Rayna shrugged helplessly.

"Like I said it's gonna be good to have you around to keep them in check." Sam pumped her hand.

"I'm not sure if you like my music more or if you like that I can handle the boys." Rayna joked.

"I'm a smart enough man to know that there is no good answer for that." Sam laughed.

"Sam, you may want to turn off the charm. Not even I will be able to convince Deacon not to knock your head off if he catches you putting the moves on his girl." Bucky warned him.

"I'm like this with all women. You know that about me." Sam smirked.

"He's still a hot-headed kid. That's bot gonna make a difference to him." Bucky pointed out to him.

"A kid who's career I control." Sam countered.

"You missed the hot-headed part of that sentence. He doesn't give a damn about his career when she's involved." Bucky arched his eyebrow.

"I'm choosin' to ignore that part." Sam retorted.

"Alright, I'm gonna let you two finish up here and I'm gonna head back to the office. Until this thing gets off the ground I still have a job that I have to get to." Rayna picked up her purse and walked out of the room.

"I really do like her." Sam observed.

"That is one hell of a woman. I don't know what our boy did to deserve her." Bucky replied.

"Neither do I. I just know he better watch himself or he won't have her for long." Sam nodded in agreement.

* * *

"Rayna, there you are. Where have you been? We have a meeting we have to be in, in a half an hour. You should have been here. We needed to talk this over and be prepared." Tandy had made herself at home in her sister's office.

"Hello to you too, Tandy. I'm glad that you just let yourself into my office." Rayna locked her purse in the bottom desk drawer.

"Don't you get smart with me. I've been where I'm supposed to be all day. I can't say that same for you." Tandy looked at her sternly.

"I'm a grown woman. I don't have to answer for you as to where I am every minute of the day." Rayna crossed her arms defiantly.

"You damn sure owe me an explanation when you miss a meeting we've had on the books for weeks." Tandy locked eyes with her.

"I had another meeting pop up today that I had to take care of. I'm not really sure that you wanna hear about it." Rayna retorted.

Tandy snorted in disgust. Her sister didn't have to tell her where she'd been for her to know what she'd meant by that. "Did you at least look the contract over well before you signed it?"

"Of course, I did. I'm daddy's daughter that way. Let's face it, though, I'm my momma's girl." Rayna shrugged.

"You are," Tandy replied. "Can I see the contract?" That was her version of an olive branch. That's how Lamar had raised them.

Rayna produced a copy of the contract. "There you go. I vetted it and my manager vetted it before I signed it. I promise you that Bucky knows what's he doing."

Tandy waved her hand in a sign for her to be quiet and let her read. She looked up after a moment. "Rayna, I hate to say it, but this is a really great contract. This no penalty clause is rare. It says that at any time either party can terminate the contract as long as they give sufficient notice. Hell, I'm ashamed that I didn't write this. As far as I can see you're protected. Call me an overprotective big sister, but I want to meet your manager and talk to him."

"I thought the same thing about the contract. I was surprised. Sam Rhodes doesn't strike me as the type to be that smart. If you promise to behave rationally I will introduce you to Bucky." Rayna took her sister's peace offering.

"Sam Rhodes is a hell of a lot smarter than you know. Our media department has done some business with Red River Records. I used to handle the accounts over there and I worked with him." Tandy informed her.

"He's not the crack pot that he comes across as?" Rayna asked.

"There's a brain hiding under that tough Texan routine that he puts on." Tandy gave her a word to the wise.

"I know how to watch my ass when it comes to business." Rayna assured her.

"You're either as talented as everyone thinks you are or you have something else he's interested in." Tandy arched her eyebrow.

"It's a little bit of both. He likes what I have to offer and he likes that I can control Deacon and his crew." Rayna admitted with a shrug.

"I really hope you know what you're doing." Tandy sighed. There was no use in trying to talk her out of this. Since she was a little girl she'd been incredibly stubborn.

"Tandy, I've got this under control." Rayna promised her.

"The only thing I want is for you to be happy. I don't think you have been for a long time." Tandy called her out.

"I haven't been. I've pretended at it. It was the best I could do." Rayna didn't see the point in lying to her.

"I want you to find what you're looking for in this life, but I want you to be careful about it. I don't want to have mom waiting on me at the pearly gates wanting to know why I let her baby get hurt. You said it yourself you were her girl." Tandy smiled softly.

"She loved you a lot too, you know?" Rayna knitted her brow together.

"I know that, but I've always been our daddy's protégé." Tandy replied.

"That's true." Rayna couldn't argue with that.

"It was more than you and mom were close. You two understood each other in a way no one else could. Daddy damn sure didn't know how to treat either one of you. You were both dreamers and he's practical." Tandy explained to her.

"I don't know if he ever really tried to understand her. At least that's what she told him more times than I can count." Rayna put her feet up on her desk.

"There was more to their relationship than meets the eye. You're right, though, they were way too different." Tandy agreed with her.

"So, do you want to go over this stuff for this meeting with me?" Rayna changed the subject.

"Yeah, we might want to make sure that you don't screw this up just because you have a foot out the door." Tandy teased her.

"Look at it this way at least I have something to fall back on." Rayna glared at her, but there was no real heat behind it.

"Even if you insist on living like a bohemian." Tandy rolled her eyes.

* * *

Sam moved quickly when it came to launching Rayna's career. He'd gotten her a spot at the Bluebird and promoted the hell out of it.

" _I take a breath and turn the key. I never guessed this would take all of me. One more look at what I'm leavin' behind. This cloud of dust is my goodbye."_ Rayna sang. She stole a look at Deacon over on the side of the stage where he was playing guitar. She didn't know what she would do without him.

" _It's a long, long road to independence, but I'm leavin' you for Tennessee. I've got demons ridin' shotgun tellin' me not to go, but what they don't go is I'm already gone. I'm already gone."_

This song was her goodbye to the life that her father wanted for her. It had pretty much written itself.

" _They say it's easier as time goes by. Why won't these tears stop fallin' from my eyes? Letting you go wasn't what I planned with every mile the more I understand."_ She nodded her head along to the beat.

" _It's a long, long road to independence, but I'm leavin' you for Tennessee. I've got demons ridin' shotgun tellin' me not to go, but what they don't go is I'm already gone. I'm already gone."_

" _I almost turned around on Highway 65 and in Arkansas I pulled off at a truck stop just to cry. And I put myself together at the Cheatham county line. And thought about my heartache and the reasons why I should drive. Just drive."_

Deacon moved next to her as he played. He wanted to make sure that she had her case of nerves under control and he wanted her to know that he was there for her just like he'd promised her he would be.

" _It's a long, long road to independence, but I'm leavin' you for Tennessee. I've got demons ridin' shot gun tellin' me not to go, but, what they don't know. No what they don't know. IS I'm already gone. I'm already gone. I'm already gone."_

"Thank you, Nashville. It's such an honor to be able to play my first gig as a signed artist here in this hollowed place. Ya'll mean so much to me." Without her meaning for it to, the switch in her head had flipped and she slipped into her native dialect. She was more down home than her father and sister. It showed in her speech pattern, but she'd done her best to cover it up.

She was easing into her momma's world just fine so far. Time would tell how well she'd do.

* * *

"Daddy, you wanted to see me." Rayna linked her fingers together. He'd called her into his office the next morning.

Lamar held up a copy of the Tennessean. "According to this paper my baby girl is finally getting paid to play that goat roping music."

"Daddy, I really wish you wouldn't call it that." Rayna sighed.

"And I really wish you wouldn't throw a promising future away to be a damn country singer and be with a man who's beneath you." Lamar countered. He knew just how to say things to make them sting.

"I'm not throwing anything away, daddy. I have my degree to fall back on and I've established myself in this business. As for Teddy I don't love him and I never will." Rayna tried to keep her composure.

"You deliberately disobeyed my wishes. You knew how I felt about this and you did it anyway." Lamar flared.

"I'm not sixteen-years-old anymore, daddy. I get to choose what I want to do with my life and who I want to be with. I have my own money and own house now. It's not like you can throw me out or threaten to cut me off anymore." Rayna didn't back down from his temper.

"I can still disown you and cut you out of my will. I can just as easily leave this entire company to your sister as I can to both of you." Lamar knew how to say things to make them hurt.

"If that's what you want to do, that's your choice. This is your company. If you don't want me as a daughter anymore that's on you, not me. You're not stoppin' me this time. I let you do it once and I'm damn sure it was the biggest mistake that I've ever made. If you treated momma nearly as badly as you treat me when I don't do what you want me to it's no wonder that you two always fought." Rayna finally got that off her chest.

"Rayna, you have no idea what you're talking about. You better watch your mouth, young lady." Lamar's nostrils flared.

"Daddy, you act like I'm abandoning you. I ain't goin' anywhere 'til I get my album done and my career off the ground. I'm still gonna be workin' here for a while. You ain't losin' me just yet." Rayna tried to make the man see reason.

"I think this is a mistake." Lamar told her flatly.

"Well, you can kiss my mistake as it's walkin' out the door." She stalked out of his office. She wasn't going to listen to another minute of his tirade.

Rayna didn't know where that burst of courage had come from. Sure, she'd never been afraid to stand up to her father, but she'd never said anything like that to him before either. If she were being honest it had felt pretty damn good. He could like it or not, but this was her life and she had to take the path she thought was right.

* * *

A/N: Here's the next chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it. I know this is shorter than what you're used to, but I'm trying to get caught up and get stuff out to you. I promise that I will get back to the longer chapters soon. Until next time please review.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers.

* * *

Chapter 7

Deacon waved a cup of coffee under Rayna's nose to wake her up. "Ray, come on, it's time to get up. We have somewhere to be in a couple hours."

Rayna sat up and snatched the coffee from him. She drank half of it and let the warm liquid burn a path down her throat before she addressed him. "That's the last time let you get me that drunk after a show when we have to be up before noon to do an early show."

"I told you not to drink so much. You told me that you've had just about enough of stubborn men tellin' ya how to run your life." Deacon informed her.

"That sounds like somethin' that I would say. Tell me that I brought my outfit over here when I left the office last night." Rayna's memory was more than a little fuzzy.

"Your outfit is here. You should just go ahead and leave whatever clothes you want over here. You're here a lot. We spend more time here than we do at your place." Deacon replied.

"Deacon, are you askin' me to move in with you?" Rayna knew what he'd meant she just wanted to give him a hard time.

"I was tellin' you that you can have a drawer and leave a toothbrush here." Deacon corrected her.

"I knew what you meant. I just wanted to see the look on your face." Rayna threw her head back and laughed loudly.

"Is the reason we don't spend a lot of time at your place 'cause you don't want a guy who looks like me hangin' 'round a neighborhood like that?" Deacon asked her.

Rayna sat her coffee mug down on the nightstand. She got up on her knees on the bed and wrapped her arms around his neck. The flannel shirt she wore rode up and the edge of her panties showed. "You know better than that."

Deacon rested his forehead against hers. "I was just makin' sure that you ain't regrettin' your choice. You coulda had an investment banker instead of me."

"I will take my redneck guitar player over some preppy investment banker any day of the week. The only reason we spend more time here than at my place is because to me that condo represents a life that isn't really mine. I built a life that is everythin' I knew I never wanted. I'm twenty I should still be in college, but I beat my brains out with summer classes and interim sessions just to please him." Rayna pecked his lips. She got up to start getting ready.

"You know that you're more than welcome to stay here as often as you wanna. I ain't got no problem wakin' up to you in my bed." Deacon grinned.

"That's cause you're easy to please when it comes to me. You're my date tomorrow night. We have the symphony for my momma's birthday." Rayna reminded him.

"You know I don't think that's a good idea. We don't wanna wave a red flag in front of your daddy's face." Deacon had moved up in the world, but he still felt inferior.

"He's just gonna have to deal with it. I'm goin' into the office tomorrow he should be happy about the fact that I didn't outright quit. It's comin', but I'm givin' him time to prepare for it. Our relationship may never recover from this, but I can't live my life the way he wants me to and be happy." Rayna talked to him as she started getting dressed.

"You have don't have to sell me on it. You're a good person and an even better daughter. If you weren't, you wouldn't be so worried 'bout this." Deacon grabbed some clothes.

"That man doesn't make it easy at all." Rayna grumbled.

"I'm already a convert on that one too." Deacon scoffed. Her father was difficult his was an abusive alcoholic.

Rayna and Deacon spent the morning playing for a DJ who was holding a fundraiser outside of the Ryman. He played a few of his songs then they went into their new duet after that Rayna sang a couple of her songs.

"Oh Shit!" Rayna exclaimed when they were back in the truck and she saw what time it was.

"What's wrong, Ray?" Deacon looked over in concern.

"I have a huge meeting that I'm supposed to be in right now. If you hurry I can still make it for my part of the presentation. I can't believe I forgot about it. I worked on that damn thing for weeks." Rayna smacked herself in the center of her forehead.

"Don't worry, I will get you there." Deacon sped across town to Wyatt Industries HQ.

"I'm not gonna make you sit down here. Come on up with me. This is gonna be a little while." Rayna told him once they had parked.

"Whatever you want." Deacon followed behind her.

Rayna walked past the receptionist at the main desk without showing her badge. "He's with me and I'm bringin' him up under my authority. Anyone has a problem with that tell them to take it up with me." she called over her shoulder.

She led him to her office and grabbed something out of the desk drawer. "Alright, wish me luck. I'm gonna need it. Not with the presentation, but with the old man."

"Good luck, sugar." Deacon made himself at home on her couch.

* * *

Rayna marched purposely into the boardroom where the meeting was being held. It didn't give pause that she was wearing cowboy boots, tight jeans, and a tight shirt with rhinestones on it. "I'm late. I know I'm late and I'm sorry about that, Ya'll. I have my presentation ready to go."

"Rayna, it's nice of you to join us." Lamar didn't have to raise his voice to let his daughter know he was disappointed in her. His body language and the look on his face said that.

"This meetin' slipped my mind. Do you want me to go now or wait?" Rayna pulled out a chair at the table.

"Actually, we got Mark to take this presentation. It was originally his project anyway." Lamar replied.

Rayna furrowed her brow. "As I recall there's a reason that Mark got pulled off this project. I'm gonna do this presentation. Not only because I have spent weeks of my life workin' on this project. Also because the last time I checked I graduated summa cum laude with a business major. I don't think Mark can claim that."

Tandy rubbed her temples. This seemed like it was going to turn into a barn burner between her father and sister. "Babe," She warned Rayna.

"No, I'm not gonna sit back and let him replace me." Rayna seethed.

"Mark has a solid plan. I don't know if I wanna take a chance on what you may have planned for something I know will work." Lamar sneered.

"I've seen Mark's plan. Here's the thing with Mark's plan. It's gonna cost you fifty million more to implement and it'll take you five years to see a profit. With my plan you're spendin' twenty million and you'll make five times that back in two years." Rayna didn't back down.

"Like I said Mark's plan is solid." Lamar folded his hands.

"You're smarter than this. You gave me this project over Mark for a reason and it's not 'cause I'm your daughter. If you wanna let the fact that you're pissed at me override your business sense then that's on you. The plan I have here is great for you and if you wanna ignore that because I'm doin' somethin' with my life that you don't like then you aren't as smart a I've always thought you were." Rayna went off on a tangent.

"Excuse me," Lamar was a bit taken aback that his daughter dared to speak to him in that manner.

"You heard me." Rayna glared at him.

Tandy hid her face behind her folder to hide her smirk. "Ok, that's enough. You two can take this outside." She hoped to diffuse the situation.

"Anyone one who has that kind of stones to talk like that in my boardroom gets to give their presentation." Lamar said after a moment of silence.

He would never admit it to her, but he seriously admired his youngest daughter. She had a lot of courage even though he didn't always appreciate what she had the courage to do. They fought amongst themselves all the time, but he wasn't going to chastise her publicly.

* * *

"You know you really shouldn't bait him into a fight don't you?" Tandy turned to look at her sister. They were walking through the cemetery on their way to their mother's grave.

"He pissed me off, Tandy. I wasn't gonna let him get away with that stunt." Rayna shrugged her shoulders.

"You're just like mom. She was the only other person I know that can go toe to toe with him and not give a damn." Tandy stopped in front of their mother's grave.

"We had to live with him too and we couldn't kiss his ass the way you do." Rayna retorted.

"You are impossible." Tandy laid a bouquet of flowers down on Virginia's grave. "Hi, mom, I want you to know that your baby girl gives your husband hell like only you could. You'd be so proud of her. I got her through middle school, high school, and college. She landed a pretty solid job at Wyatt Industries. I know you wouldn't want that for her, though. It was like pulling teeth, but she did it. I'm damn proud of her. She's finally following her dreams and in your footsteps. We better be hearing number one hits from her on the radio soon."

Rayna smiled and laid down the flowers she'd brought her mother. "Happy birthday, pretty lady, I sure do miss you. Tandy told you some of my big news. My boyfriend, he calls me pretty lady sometimes and I guess I picked it up. You'd like Deacon. Or at least I think you would. He's down to earth and he don't come from money. He's exactly what you wanted for me. He treats like a queen and he understands me. That's somethin' I haven't had since I lost you. I stood up to daddy today and I think you'd be proud of that. I gave him hell in a way that only you could."

"She's a pill. I want to thank you for leaving us to deal with her. The only person I've found who can deal with her is a dirty guitar player." Tandy cracked.

"Tandy obviously doesn't like him. He's never been anythin', but nice to her. Her problem with him is that he's poor and he's older than me. Oh, and he's takin' me away from daddy's business and leadin' me to yours." Rayna rolled her eyes.

"I'm sure you'd disagree with me on this one, but I don't think he's good for her. She can't see that because she's blinded by love." Tandy retorted. "I know what you'd say, though, let her be young, wild, and free. Don't crush her spirit. So, I'm gonna be nice to him for her sake."

"She thinks that I'm a pain in the ass, but she has no clue how bad she is. Her and daddy love to double team me. I can't deal with them anymore." Rayna snorted.

"I'm sure this is what mom wants to hear." Tandy chided her.

"This is exactly what mom wants to hear. I think she'd want to hear the mundane stuff. Like us arguin'." Rayna pointed out to her.

"Just tell me that you're not gonna bring Deacon with you to the opera tonight. I think you've antagonized daddy enough for once day." Tandy suggested.

"Deacon is my date tonight. If you get to bring Joe then I get to bring my boyfriend. If daddy doesn't like it he can kiss my ass." Rayna shrugged.

"Just do me a favor and don't tell people that I finished helping raise you." Tandy groaned and shook her head in resignation.

* * *

"Just relax and take a breath. I promise you that no one can read your mind and know that you rather be anywhere, but here right now." Rayna hung on to Deacon's arm as they walked into the opera.

"I feel so outta place, babe." Deacon stiffened up under her touch.

"You belong here, because I'm here and I want you here. That's the only thing that matters." Rayna reassured him.

"The things you get me to do, 'cause I love ya are unbelievable." Deacon sighed loudly.

"It's all part of my charm, babe." Rayna laughed at him.

They met up with Lamar, Tandy, and Joe in the lobby.

"Rayna, you're kidding me, right?" Lamar said when he laid eyes on Deacon.

"Daddy, don't start." Rayna stared him down.

"I'm ignoring your outburst from earlier today, because I like my employees to have a little spark to them. This I can't ignore." Lamar retorted.

"Daddy, can I have a word with you in private for a moment?" Rayna plastered a fake smile on her face.

"Gladly," Lamar followed her into a corridor where they could have some privacy.

"Oh, boy, they don't have anyone with them to play buffer. There's a very good chance that one or both of them are gonna raise their voice." Joe observed.

"That's an understatement." Tandy agreed with her husband.

"I'm just here, 'cause she asked me to come." Deacon shrugged.

"Rayna, what the hell are you thinking bringing that urchin here?" Lamar demanded.

"I'm thinking that he's my boyfriend and I want him here." Rayna glared at him.

"I'm thinking that this doesn't look good." Lamar retorted.

"This is ridiculous. This all boil down to you're pissed that I am choosin' how to live my life. I spent my collegiate years tryin' to please you. I beat my brains out tryin' to make you proud of me. I took a job that I didn't want, because that's what you wanted for me. I'm doin' this for me and you don't have to like it. You don't even have to support it. You just have to remember at the end of the day I'm still your daughter and you're supposed to love me. You're a difficult, cantankerous man, but I love you despite of that. Let's face it, you and I are never gonna see eye to eye on anythin'. The best we can do is learn to respect each other." Rayna went off on a tirade.

"It's hard to respect you when you're throwing your life away on a career that's going to take you nowhere and a boy who is going to break your heart." Lamar spat back.

"You don't know that, daddy. You don't have a crystal ball you can look into that is gonna tell what will happen. I got into a job that I didn't want to make you happy. I'm not gonna marry a man I don't love just because you think he's suitable for a Wyatt." Rayna didn't back down.

"Ok, I give up. There's no getting you to see reason. This is a lesson you're gonna have to learn for yourself. The only thing I can do is be there to catch you when you fall." Lamar shook his head in resignation.

"You might not believe it, daddy, but I know what I'm doin'." Rayna pecked his cheek. Despite the fact that she spent most of her time arguing with him she hated it. He was the only parent she had left and she wanted to get along with him.

* * *

A/N: Here's the next chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it. I'm really trying to get caught up. Until next time please review.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers.

* * *

Chapter 8

"Rayna, look right here. Just like that. The camera loves you." The photographer praised.

Rayna turned to face the camera and smiled. She was dressed in a pair of tight jeans and a low-cut top. She was doing publicity photos for the label. She'd been at it all day and still the feelings of butterflies in her stomach hadn't gone away. This was one of the most exciting things she'd ever done.

"Deacon, that girl is a spitfire. One of the best decisions I've ever made was signin' her to this label." Sam commented to the younger man.

"I'm lucky enough to be able to call her mine. She's one of the most talented people it has ever been my pleasure to know." Deacon had a goofy grin on his face.

"She's a natural at this. And she's got a good mind for business. I wager to say she's better at it than her daddy and her sister. Her heart just ain't in it. I'm glad for that. The magic that you two have together can't be faked." Sam replied.

"I wouldn't know 'bout all that. Her daddy and her sister hate me." Deacon snorted.

"Hell, if that were my daughter I'd hate your ass too. You're one of those bad boys without a clue." Sam gave him a knowing look.

"I know that the boys and I get a little rowdy out on the road, but she makes me wanna be better for her." Deacon retorted.

"Deacon, that little ol' girl loves the hell outta you and that much is obvious. I know about the parade of women in and outta your hotel rooms. If I were you I'd reform myself and make sure that I didn't do anythin' to make her rethink her feelings for me." Sam gave him a word to the wise.

"Sam, there ain't words for how much I love her. Those girls were nothin' more than placeholders 'til I could get back to her." Deacon admitted.

"Call me crazy, but I believe you. I can see it written all over your face when you talk 'bout her." Sam clapped him on the back.

"Sam, when you gonna figure out I'm just a simple guy? What you see with me is what you get." Deacon shrugged his shoulders.

"You are the purest dumbest son of a bitch I've ever met I'll give you that." Sam shook his head.

"I love her, Sam. I don't know what more to say than that." Deacon replied.

"I know it." Sam chuckled.

Rayna walked over to them a moment later. "Sam, how do you think I'm doin'?"

"Rayna, you're doin' great. You're worth every bit of money that I'm payin' out." Sam gave her a big smile.

"Sam, is this happy 'cause he knows that you're gonna make him a lotta money. He's gonna be really nice to ya, Ray." Deacon laughed.

"He's a pain in the ass. If you ask me you need to get rid of this trouble maker." Sam shook his head.

"Sam, if I could get rid of him I would. I love him too much to let him go anywhere." Rayna retorted.

"You are two little love sick puppies. I don't know what I'm gonna do with y'all." Sam sighed playfully.

"We make a lotta people feel that way." Deacon shrugged.

"Especially anyone related to me." Rayna chuckled.

Bucky had been standing in the corner on the phone and he came over to the group. "Rayna, I have some good news for you. I just got a call from the Bluebird and they want you to be the to be determined special guest for tomorrow night. They said it's good press. The second generation of country music in your family."

"Wow, that's great, Buck." Rayna grinned from ear to ear.

"I just have one question for you." Bucky replied.

"What is it?" Rayna asked.

"Are you ready for your whole life to change?" Bucky smiled.

* * *

"Babe, can you answer the door please!" Rayna called to Deacon from her bedroom.

Deacon hauled himself off the couch and opened the door. "Hey, Tandy, Joe, come on in. Ray is still gettin' ready. She will be out any minute. Y'all showed up when you said you'd be here." He referred to the fact Rayna was always running late.

"If Rayna weren't behind schedule I wouldn't know how to act." Joe handed him a bottle of wine.

"Me either." Deacon took the bottle of wine and carried it into the kitchen. "I think she should have a bottle of this already open. I know nothin' 'bout wine." He found the open wine bottle and poured a glass for Tandy.

"Thank you, Deacon, you do have some social graces. I wasn't sure that you did." Tandy gave him a left-handed compliment.

"I know how to behave like I wasn't born in a barn when the occasion calls for it. Joe, do you want a beer or somethin' stronger?" Deacon offered.

"I will take a beer. I don't wanna get drunk just yet." Joe replied.

"I think your wife and my girlfriend would kill me if I let that happen." Deacon grabbed him a beer.

"My wife would kill you anyway. I don't think that Rayna is capable of getting mad at you." Joe joked with him.

"Hey, Babe, I'm glad that you got here before anyone else." Rayna came out of her bedroom in the process of putting her second earring in.

"Joe and I both came from work. We were the closest I guess. Where are the rest of your friends coming from?" Tandy gave her sister a quick hug.

"Well, Vince is over in the Gulch that's where Deacon's apartment is. And God knows where the rest of our trouble makin' friends are comin' from." Rayna replied.

"Everyone else is in East Nashville or a little worse than that if I'm bein' honest. The Gulch apartment was kinda me splurgin' on myself." Deacon rubbed the back of his neck.

"Just do me a favor and don't do anything that will have the HOA kick my sister out of this condo tonight. I've heard stories about what you and your band of merry idiots get up to out on the road." Tandy arched her eyebrow at him.

"Tandy, it's fine we are just gonna celebrate my contract with the label. I knew these guys back before they went to Texas with Deacon." Rayna tried to call her down.

"That's her polite way of sayin' I made her invite you 'cause I wanted Joe here." Deacon tried his best to get along with Rayna's family, but her sister and father made it hard as hell sometimes.

"I worry that you're a bad influence on both my husband and my sister." Tandy gave him a look.

"Vince is the bad influence on Joe and we all know that. Just like you and I both know that no one makes Rayna Jaymes do anythin' that she don't wanna do." Deacon used the name his girlfriend was going by now.

Tandy pinched the bridge of her nose. "You're using mom's maiden name?"

"Tandy, we both know that I was a hell of a lot closer to momma than I ever was to daddy. She started out in this business using her maiden name. It's a way to honor her and keep daddy off my back. He would have a fit if I were makin' music usin' the last name Wyatt." Rayna pointed out to her.

"Ok, I have to grant you that point. I know how daddy is as well as you do. You and mom always handled him a lot better than I can. I know I'm the daddy's girl and you're the momma's girl. The thing of it is you're his pick and not me. It's because you're so much like mom and you're the baby. You may not remember it because you two have been at odds since mom died, but he used to take you into his office with him and sit you on his lap. He wants you to have the world. That's the reason he acts the way he does." Tandy informed her.

"And because he's emotionally stunted he can't just say that. He has to act like the world's biggest ass." Rayna rolled her eyes.

"I never said he was perfect. I just said he loves us even if he doesn't show the way normal fathers do." Tandy shrugged her shoulders.

Rayna scoffed at that. "Whatever you say."

"Joe, you wanna help me put beer out in the cooler on the balcony?" Deacon asked to get them away from the warring sisters.

"Sure thing," Joe didn't hesitate to say yes.

Deacon grabbed four cases of beer out of the fridge and handed two to Joe. "There you are. I think you'll appreciate my cooler more than anyone." He walked out on the balcony with him.

"You have a galvanized tub for a cooler. You're right I dig this." Joe laughed.

"Somethin' tells me that your bride won't feel the same way." Deacon laughed.

"She just doesn't know what's fun." Joe chuckled.

"Well, babe, you managed to clear the guys out of here." Rayna observed.

"Did you boyfriend seriously bring a galvanized tub up here?" Tandy's mouth hung open in disbelief.

"He said that that's the best cooler known to man. Don't worry, Tandy, the poor won't rub off on you." Rayna rolled her eyes yet again.

"You really think so little of me sometimes." Tandy shook her head.

"I'm just going off past behavior." Rayna arched her eyebrow.

"Touché," Tandy couldn't argue with her there.

* * *

"Sam, do you make it a habit to show up to all your artists' parties or just the pretty young ones?" Tandy got Sam cornered later that night.

"There ain't many artists that I've seen that have the talent your sister does. I'm more of a mentor than a label head. I want them to know that they can always come to me with their concerns. I know that Wyatt Industries is losin' one hell of a brilliant executive, but I can't be sorry for that. I'm gainin' one hell of an incredible artist." Sam retorted.

"Here's the deal, pal. Claybourne is your pet chimp. If he goes wild and destroys the zoo you better make damn sure that he doesn't take my baby sister down with him. I know it's only a matter of time before his true colors show and she just can't see that yet. If something bad happens to her because of him I will hold you personally responsible. You couldn't have kept him out of town just a few more months. I had her just about set to marry this really great guy who is responsible and stable. He's so good for her, but her and Deacon just can't let each other be even though they both know that they should. They come from different worlds and it will never work out. One or both of them is gonna end up hurt. And I'm afraid that she will get hurt worse." Tandy laid down the law with him.

"Tandy, I have no control over what those two do and I'm not gonna try to. Deacon really loves her and Rayna really loves him. I think that's just somethin' you need to get used to. Otherwise I'm afraid you may lose your sister." Sam leveled with her.

"Love is overrated most of the time." Tandy made a show of rolling her eyes and sipped her wine.

"I guess everyone should be as happy together as you and Joe Hampton are." Sam scoffed and took a healthy swallow of his beer.

Tandy narrowed her eyes at him. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"You know damn well what that means. Now if you'll excuse me I'm sure that there are other people here who will enjoy seein' me more than you do." Sam excused himself.

"Damn, Duchess, you were kinda rough on ol' Sam." Vince slid up beside her.

Tandy sighed loudly. "Oh, great, just what I needed. About like I need a hole in my head. What do you want, Vince?" She looked him up and down in disdain.

Vince leaned in close to her. "I think your problem is you need someone to show you the good time your husband isn't capable of showing you." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"I don't know what you think you know, but I will have you know that I have a very happy marriage." Tandy pushed him away.

"I'm sure you'd love for everyone to think that. Me, I know better than that. I can call a spade a spade. Your baby sister likes slummin' it maybe you should give it a try with me. I ain't like Deac. I don't have all those pesky, girly feelings. I just have needs that I get met." Vince licked his lips lewdly.

"You're a pig. Not if you were the last man on earth." Tandy glared daggers at him.

"If the only two men left on earth were me and Joe we both know that you'd have to settle for me otherwise there ain't no way the world would get repopulated." Vince drained the rest of his beer and let that hang in the air.

"You know I see beyond that I'm uncultured and poor routine you try to put on. In Deacon's case it's not an act, but with you that's exactly what it is. You're not exactly the bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks that you make yourself out to be." Tandy called him on his bullshit.

Vince's facial expression changed. "You're right I'm not. I'm come from a family with as much money as yours. I went to all the best schools and I knew all the right people. It just so happens that isn't what I wanted for myself. Deac may be poor and uncultured as you called him, but he is still a better person than any one of the rich, educated jackasses I've been my whole life. Those aren't my people. People like Deacon are. The same thing is true for your sister and you better get used to that. When they first started datin' I thought that she was just another rich princess out to piss her daddy off by playin' 'round with a good ol' boy. Once I got to know her I realized nothin' could be further from the truth. She's my kinda people too. I don't know how the two of you came from the same place."

"She's our mother's daughter and I'm our father's daughter." Tandy said by way of explanation.

"That makes sense. I don't think Watty White would be so hung up on doin' right by Virginia Wyatt's daughter if that weren't the case. I haven't said anythin' to Ray, but it's apparent that he loved your momma the way Deacon loves your sister. Deac may be haunted, but he's gotta one hell of a big heart that only beats for Rayna." Vince shot back.

"Vince there you are. Stop worryin' so much with my sister and come party." Rayna was obviously more than a tad bit tipsy.

"Ok, ok, I'm comin' woman. Keep your panties on. Don't no one wanna see what you got, but Deac and he might have a fit if you show the whole world." Vince laughed and put his arm around her shoulders. "Tandy, just keep in mind what I said. That offer is always open."

* * *

"In studio with me today I'm blessed to have an old, young friend of mine and a very old dear friend of mine's daughter. For those of you who don't know much about the company I keep, that would be Deacon Claybourne and Rayna Jaymes the daughter of the late great Virginia Wyatt. They are part of the insanely talented stable of artists over at Red River Records. We are lucky enough that Sam Rhodes decided to move shop to Nashville. He sure knows how to pick 'em." Watty spoke into his mic. They were on air for his radio show.

"Watty, when you talk 'bout me like that you make me sound like one of those young people who is wise behind his years. Anyone who knows me will tell you that just ain't true." Deacon chuckled. He spoke first to show Rayna how it was done.

"Watty, I know that my momma thought the world of you. You really shouldn't give Sam all the credit. You're the one who has worked for years to get me gigs around town to get my feet wet." Rayna was a natural.

"This isn't the first time that you two have made music together is it?" Watty asked.

"You actually, introduced Deacon and I way back when I was sixteen and we have been makin' music together ever since. It's been said that I could sing the phonebook, but I leave a lot to be desired when it comes to guitar playin'." Rayna made a joke.

"With that I think it's time to go to a commercial break." Watty said and the on air light went out.

Deacon reached over and took Rayna's hand. "You're doin' great."

Rayna smiled at him. "I'm so nervous."

"Don't be. This is straight forward and easy. When we come back I'm gonna ask you a couple of questions about how you got into country music and then I'll have you introduce your new song." Watty smiled reassuringly.

"You do a couple of hundred of these things and you won't sweat it." Deacon told her.

"I'm glad I'm doin' this with you." Rayna replied.

"Me too, babe," Deacon squeezed her hand.

Watty held his hand up in a sign for them to be quiet. "And we're back in studio with Deacon Claybourne and Rayna Jaymes. One of them is a hot up and comer on the country music scene and the other one is just breaking out. Funny story about these two I introduced them one night about four or five years ago at the Bluebird. The thing about Rayna is she's as pretty as a picture, sings like an angel, but she mangles the guitar like it's her job and she's up for a promotion. I got Deacon to play guitar for her and the rest as they say is history. They have been making music together ever since. Not even I knew what kind of magic was gonna be struck when I put them together. I couldn't have done it better had I planned it myself."

"When he says it like that it seems like it was a hundred years ago." Deacon spoke up.

"It seems like it was a hundred years ago and yesterday all at the same time." Rayna added.

"So, what made each of you want to get into country music?" Watty asked.

"For me it was one of the only things I was ever really good at. It was somethin' that my momma pushed for as long as I could remember. From the minute I picked up a guitar that was it. I was able to bend those strings to my will. Most of what I know I taught myself. I came up listenin' to all the great outlaws. Willie, Waylon, Johnny, and Merle. I knew I wanted to be them." Deacon answered first.

"Country music is all I've ever known. I remember sittin' on my momma's bed watchin' her get ready to go play the Opry. We listened to all the greats on WSM. A personal favorite is John Conlee's Rose Colored Glasses." Rayna fielded the question.

"Tell me about this new song of yours." Watty prompted.

"It's honest and it's pure. It's our truth." Rayna answered the only way she knew how.

"Three chords and the truth. That's what we went with when we wrote this song. I think that comes out." Deacon replied.

"Here it is the premiere of Deacon Claybourne and Rayna Jaymes' new song The Rivers Between Us. Remember you heard it here first." Watty played the song.

Deacon leaned over and kissed Rayna's cheek. "You were perfect."

"Thanks, babe," Rayna smiled brightly at him.

* * *

A/N: Here is the next chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it. There was a pretty big hint about Joe and Tandy's marriage in this chapter you just have to be able to read between the lines to find it. Vince basically came out and said what it was when he was talking to her. Don't worry though, no matter what I plan on keeping Joe around I really like his character and I don't often have that with one of my original characters. I promise you that I'm not giving up on this fic. Real life just gets in my way sometimes. Until next time please review.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N:Thanks to all my reviewers.

* * *

Chapter 9

Rayna paced around nervously in the venue that they were going to be playing that night. This was her first real gig. Things had moved quickly since she signed with Red River Records. Sometimes it was hard to believe that this had finally happened for her. She'd wanted it for so long and she was starting to feel like she was in her element.

Deacon snuck up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He dropped a quick kiss on her cheek. "How'd your first real sound check go? I'm sorry that I couldn't be there. I had some PR thing that I had to do and I couldn't get out of it."

"No worries, babe. It went smoothly. I'm just a huge ball of nerves. You wouldn't happen to have a cigarette that I could hold would ya?" Rayna leaned back into him and relaxed. For as much as he excited her, he also had the ability to calm her.

Deacon laughed huskily in her ear. "I ain't givin' you a cigarette. I only smoke when I get really drunk these days. I have somethin' else to calm your nerves. It's normal and I'm sure that you're more excited than nervous." He held his hand out to her.

Rayna looked at his hand questioningly. "What?"

He smiled softly. "Do you trust me?"

"I trust you more than anyone else in my life." She replied.

"Then take my hand and I'll show you how I get in the zone." He offered her his hand again.

She took his hand without hesitation.

Deacon took her up into the nosebleed section and sat down with her.

"What are we doin' up here?" Rayna looked around confused.

"These cheap seats up here were all I was ever able to afford before I made it. I just remember that the few concerts I was able to go to really helped shape who I am as musician. We don't just make music for the people who have a ton of money to spend we make it for the people up here in the cheap seats too. The people up here in these seats are probably more impacted by our work than anyone else. You gotta remember to sing your heart out for the people in the back." Deacon grabbed her hand and kissed it.

Rayna brushed her knuckles over his cheek gently. "I don't know what I did that I'm lucky enough to deserve to have you in my life, but I thank God for you every day. I don't know what I would do without you. That was one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard."

"I'm the lucky one, baby. I know that you're outta my league in more ways than one. Girls like you ain't supposed to love guys like me. Any other girl woulda settled down with her college boyfriend, but not you, you took another chance on me." Deacon kissed her tenderly.

"Promise me no matter what from now on before a show we will come up here and remind ourselves where we came from." Rayna smiled against his lips.

"I promise," Deacon kissed her again.

* * *

" _I take a breath and turn the key. I never guessed this would take all of me. One more look at what I'm leavin' behind this cloud of dust is my goodbye."_ Rayna opened up her set with one of the songs off the demo album she and Deacon had written.

" _It's a long, long road to independence but I'm leavin' you for Tennessee. I've got demons ridin' shotgun tellin' me not to go, but what they don't know is I'm already gone. I'm already gone."_ This song was one big screw you to her father.

" _They say it's easier as time goes by. Why won't these tears stop fallin' from my eyes? Lettin' you go wasn't what I'd planned with every mile the more I understand."_ She found her groove and looked over at Deacon.

Deacon smiled at her reassuringly.

" _It's a long, long road to independence but I'm leavin' you for Tennessee. I've got demons ridin' shotgun tellin' me not to go, but what they don't know is I'm already gone. I'm already gone."_

" _I almost turned around on highway sixty-fix and in Arkansas I pulled off at a truck stop just to cry. And I pulled myself together at the Cheatham county line. And I thought about my heartache and all the reasons why I should drive, just drive."_ She belted that line out confidently.

" _It's a long, long, road to independence, but I'm leavin' you for Tennessee. I got demons ridin' shotgun tellin' me not to go, but what they don't know, no what they don't know, is, I'm already gone. I'm already gone. I'm already gone."_ She finished her song to the cheers of the crowd.

"Ray, take a minute and bask in that sound. You're made it." Bucky told her when she stepped off stage after her set.

"Thanks, Buck," Rayna smiled shyly.

"Don't be shy, get used to it." Bucky patted her on the back.

Deacon exited the stage and pulled her into a kiss. "I'm so damn proud of you, baby. I knew that you could do this."

"I couldn't do it without you by my side. I'm so thankful that I could look over and see you there beside me." Rayna toyed with the hair on the back of his neck.

"As long as I can be there on the stage beside you I will be." Deacon rested his forehead against hers.

"You better get ready for your set, babe." Rayna smiled at him.

"I'm always ready to go out there and play you should know that." Deacon stole a kiss from her. "Stay loose I'm gonna call you out there when the time is right for our duet."

"I'll be waiting." Rayna assured him.

"No matter how many times I see you two together I don't think I'll get over the magic that happens on the stage." Sam was waiting for them when the show was over.

"I think I oughta be offended by that. The way you sound I wasn't any good on my own." Deacon joked around with him.

"Deacon, I built my label around you. You should know that I think you're great. I just happen to think you're better with her by your side." Sam clapped him on the back. "Rayna, I think I speak for every man when I say dump this chump and get with me."

Rayna blushed and looked down at the floor. "Sam, I can't do that. I obviously love him or I wouldn't have taken him back after I was rid of him."

"Ok, then I guess I'm just gonna have to settle for you makin' me a lotta money. Don't you blush like that, you're extremely talented I want you to own it. Deacon is humble enough for both y'all. You're gonna be a big star, kid. I want you and him workin' on songs non-stop and if it comes down to it I'll find you some material from other writers, but I don't think anyone can capture your spirit quite the way you two can." Sam told her.

"Sam, make one more advanced towards my girlfriend and I will call your wife." Deacon was only half joking.

"You know I'm this way with everyone." Sam rolled his eyes.

"How can you already tell that I'm gonna be a big star?" Rayna asked him.

"I have a feelin' for these things. I knew it when I looked at Deacon and I get the same feelin' when I look at you." Sam explained to her.

"Sam, thank you, I'm really grateful for this opportunity." Rayna smiled at him.

"I know you are and like I said you can thank me by makin' me a lotta money." Sam laughed. "Deacon, take this girl and show her how post show publicity works."

"Gladly, to get her away from you." Deacon put his arm around her shoulders and led her off to sign autographs.

"Sam, you better watch your ass. He loves the hell outta that little ol' girl." Vince advised him.

"Vince, he knows that I'm just messin' 'round." Sam reassured him.

"I'd make sure of that if I were you." Vince started packing up their gear.

* * *

Rayna fought hard to stay awake through arguably the most boring meeting of her career. After she and Deacon had finished their show the night before they were both riding a high and they'd gone out to celebrate. She didn't take into account that she had to work this morning, she'd been feeling too good to let anything bring her down. As it stood she was working less and less at the office. The only reason she'd come in was because there was a meeting.

She tried to hide a yawn behind her portfolio.

"Rayna, am I really boring you that much?" Tandy asked her sister.

"No, it's not you. The subject matter is boring and I had a gig last night. I showered and came to work. I'm outta here as soon as this meeting is over." Rayna didn't back down. She'd never let Tandy bully her and she wasn't about to start now.

"Do you have all your notes done for your part of the meeting?" Tandy held her hand out for her portfolio.

"I do," Rayna handed it over.

"Go home, I'll cover for you. You're just distracting everyone right now." Tandy dismissed her.

"Ray, who the hell is makin' that kinda racket this time of mornin'?" Deacon groaned a few hours later. They had been sound asleep in her bed when someone had started banging on the door.

Rayna rolled over and checked the clock. "It's two in the afternoon, babe. That's probably my sister." She sighed.

"You're right, it is your sister. I got tired of beating on the door and used the key you gave me to get in." Tandy stood in the doorway of her bedroom.

"What are you doin' here?" Rayna sat up. She was wearing the flannel shirt Deacon had on the night before.

"Babe, I think that you and I need to have a talk." Tandy cast a glance in Deacon's direction.

"Deac, do you think you could give us a minute?" Rayna batted her eyelashes at her boyfriend.

"I'll be in the other room. Holler if you need anythin'." Deacon got out of bed and went to the living room couch.

"Rayna, what is it you think you're doing? You have one foot in dad's world and one foot in mom's. You need to pick one and stick to it even if it's not the one that I wish you'd pick. Your work is suffering from this double duty you're pulling." Tandy sat on the edge of the bed.

Rayna ran her hands over her face. "I know that and I did make my choice. I have to be a singer. He's the only parent I have left and I know the minute I tell him I quit and I ain't comin' back he may never speak to me again. I don't always get along with him or ever get along with him for that matter, but I don't wanna lose him."

"If you were gonna lose him he would cut you off the minute you talked that way to him in the board room. He's gonna be pissed and he's gonna huff and puff, but he's never gonna walk away from you." Tandy assured her.

"How do you know that?" Rayna looked at her questioningly.

"I caught him reading Red River Records quarterly report that's how I know. He's proud of you he just doesn't know how to say it to you. He never really had mom because he didn't understand her world and he doesn't want to lose you to it too." Tandy informed her.

"I might as well just cut my hours and not go back." Rayna didn't know what to make of that information.

"I think I can arrange for you to take an extended leave of absence that way you'd be free to come back if you ever wanted to. Don't bother daddy with that part of it, I'll take care of it. If you wanna do this music thing so badly I want you to focus on that." Tandy hugged her baby sister tightly.

"Thank you, so much." Rayna hugged her back.

"Just remember that I can't get you out of going to the country club next week." Tandy reminded her.

"Don't remind me." Rayna rolled her eyes.

"I better get back to work, so at least one of us stays in daddy's good graces." Tandy teased her.

"Get out of here and don't give my boyfriend hell." Rayna laughed.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Rayna stared at Deacon while he worked on scribbling down lyrics in his notebook.

Deacon looked up when he felt her intense gaze on him. "What do you want, woman?" He gave her a lopsided grin.

"Deac, please," She flashed her best puppy dog eyes at him.

"This again?" He sighed. She'd been badgering him about the same thing for the last week.

"Yes, this again. It's my birthday party and you're my boyfriend I want you there." She stuck her bottom lip out.

"You know I ain't comfortable in no damn country club. Your daddy and sister hate my guts. I don't wanna ruin your night for ya. You only turn twenty-one once." He reasoned her.

"You wouldn't be ruining my night if you went. You'd ruin my night if you didn't go." She pointed out.

"Fine, but you owe me. And remember we are gonna give you a real twenty-first birthday bash." He relented like they both knew he would.

"Thank you, baby, I love you." She pecked his lips.

"I love you too or I wouldn't be puttin' myself through this torture." He kissed her deeper and threw her over his shoulder and carried her to the bedroom.

* * *

"Deacon, Vince, I'm so glad y'all finally made it. I've been alone with my daddy and sister for the last ten minutes. I think I'm gonna kill myself if I have to be alone with them any longer than that." Rayna hugged Vince and then kissed Deacon.

"Sorry, we got stuck in traffic. I couldn't get outta that meetin' with Sam. You'll recall that I tried and he wouldn't take no for an answer." Deacon replied.

"Babe, I know. The fact that I'm happy to see Vince should tell you how bad it is." Rayna groaned.

"I hate to insult myself, but she does have a point." Vince agreed with her.

Rayna ignored him and walked over to her father with the two men. "Daddy, you already know Deacon. This is our friend Vince Jameson." She made the introductions.

"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Wyatt," Vince extended his hand to Lamar.

Lamar shook his hand. "I know who you are. I do quite a bit of business with your father."

"Guilty as charged, sir." Vince laughed politely.

"Why don't you and Deacon go get a drink and we talk a little." Lamar suggested.

"Yes, sir," The two younger men answered in unison.

"Daddy, please play nice. I know that you don't like Deacon, but I do love him." Rayna pleaded with her father once they had walked away.

"I know you love him. I just wish if you had to be with a musician it would've been Jameson he comes from a respectable family in the business community." Lamar sighed.

"You should know as well as anyone that you can't help what the heart wants. You and mom were complete opposites." Rayna pointed out to him.

Lamar looked at her defeated. "Well, I guess I can't argue that one with you."

"Daddy, I know that you hate what I'm doing and it isn't your scene, but we are having my single launch party tomorrow night. I would really like it if you could make it." Rayna extended an olive branch.

"I may not approve of what you're doing, but I wouldn't miss it. I'm trying, Rayna." Lamar told her.

"I know you are, daddy, and I love you for it." Rayna kissed his cheek.

"Happy birthday, baby girl." Lamar hugged her.

"Rayna," Teddy walked up.

Rayna shoot her father a withering look. "Really, daddy?"

"This wasn't me." Lamar swore to her.

"What are you doin' here, Teddy?" Rayna demanded.

"I'm not here to try to win you back I heard you the last time you told me it's over. We were together a long time and I did care about you. I couldn't just let your birthday pass without coming to tell you happy birthday." Teddy answered her.

"Ok, I guess I can live with that." Rayna rewarded him with a small smile.

"I better get going. Your boyfriend looks like he would happily tear me apart limb from limb." Teddy inclined his head over his shoulder to where Deacon stood.

"Yeah, he would do it with a smile on his face." Rayna confirmed.

Deacon walked over and handed Rayna a drink. "Here you go, Ray, I thought you could use a fresh drink." He wrapped his arm around her waist in both a possessive and protective gesture.

"Thanks, baby," Rayna kissed his cheek. "Deacon, you remember Teddy, don't you?" She tried to be polite.

"I do," Deacon nodded his head curtly. He glared daggers at the other man.

"I should be going now. Happy birthday again, Rayna." Teddy excused himself.

"Deacon," Rayna's voice was laced with mild disapproval.

"What?" Deacon grinned innocently.

"Vince, what are you doing here? I never took you for the country club type." Tandy was off in the corner of the room talking to him.

"There's a lot you don't know about me, Tandy. I keep tellin' ya that you can find out more whenever you're ready." Vince made his eyebrows dance.

"Vince, I have a husband." Tandy flashed her wedding ring at him.

"I think we both know that that piece of metal don't mean much." Vince countered with a smirk.

* * *

The next night was the release party for Rayna's first single. Sam had decided that they needed to go with Already Gone. He may not have looked like much more than a cowboy hat and big belt buckle, but he knew what he was doing. So, she trusted him when he said that was the song she needed to go with.

"How you feelin'?" Deacon stood with his arm around her shoulders protectively.

"I'm feel pretty damn good. Sam got everyone that I need to know in this business here tonight. This part I can handle. This is where the business major comes in. I'm kinda in my element here. I know how to behave exactly how I should." Rayna gave him a smile.

"This is the part I don't enjoy very much. I call this part spray and pray. I just close my eyes and pray that I hit the target." Deacon shifted around nervously.

"You do fine. You're lucky all you have to do is be yourself and the majority of people like you." Rayna leaned into his side.

Sam walked over with a huge smile plastered on his face. "Rayna, are you ready for this rodeo?"

"I'm as ready as I'm ever gonna be." Rayna gave him a smile in return.

"Ray, just remember I want the person you are on stage to come out tonight and not the person you are in the office." Bucky coached her. He'd taken to calling her by Deacon's nickname for her.

"I know, Buck, I've got this." Rayna assured him.

"Ya'll she's gonna do fine. She was born to do this. I don't think you have anythin' to worry 'bout." Deacon winked at her.

"Sam, I still can't believe you managed to get the Bluebird for this." Rayna looked around in awe. She still had a hard time believing that this was really happening for her. She'd only wanted this for as long as she could remember.

"Only the best for the jewel of my label." Sam tipped his hat to her.

"Oh, look, there's my family. Sam, I think it's time for you to meet them." Rayna waved Lamar, Tandy, and Joe over.

"Rayna, this is quite the turn out." Lamar commented.

"What can I say? I'm a hot commodity, daddy." Rayna tried her best to keep the edge out of her voice. "Daddy, Tandy, Joe, this is my label head, Sam Rhodes. Sam, this is my father Lamar Wyatt, my sister Tandy, and her husband Joe." She made the introductions.

"It's very nice to meet you, Mr. Wyatt. I believe me father does a lotta business with you." Sam shook Lamar's hand.

"That he does, Sam. This is my baby girl you do right by her or you'll have me to answer to." Lamar gave him a warning.

"I have big plans for her." Sam assured him.

"Deacon, why don't you show daddy where he can sit?" Rayna suggested. She wanted to get him away from her boss before he got her tossed from the label.

"I'll handle that for you, Ray. Deacon has things he needs to do too." Bucky took it upon himself to handle her family for her.

A big fuss was made out of playing Rayna's single and then her mingling around with all the music industry bigwigs who were there. During a lull in the activity Deacon took it upon himself to get up on stage with her.

He licked his lips and cleared his throat before he spoke. "Ray, this is your special night and I couldn't let that pass without doin' a little somethin' for ya. This has been comin' for as long as I've known ya and I'm glad that I still get to be by your side." He wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans before he started to play his guitar.

" _They said I was nothin' but a trouble maker never up to no good. And you were the perfect all American girl wouldn't touch me even if you could. But you were sneakin' out your window every night ridin' shotgun in my girl. We'd go to the river and find us a spot and we probably went a little too far, just a little too far."_ He'd drawn largely on their past when he'd written this song.

"' _Cause I was gonna be your forever you were gonna be my wife. We didn't know any better didn't have a clue about life. I was what you wanted you were what I needed and we could meet in between. We were gonna be the greatest love story this town had ever seen."_ He stared into her eyes as he sang.

Rayna just smiled at him.

" _So you went off to college and I got a job. I was workin' that nine to five. Dreamin' of the days when you were in my arms and I never felt so alive. Spent my days workin' spent my nights drinkin' howlin' at the moon. Screamin' for them days when you were comin' back no couldn't come too soon. Couldn't come too soon."_

" _When I was gonna be your forever and you were gonna be my wife. But you went off to find better and I was learnin' all 'bout life. I was what you wanted you were what I needed and we could meet in between. We were gonna be the greatest love story this town had ever seen."_

Deacon had to really focus on playing his guitar so he didn't lose his place. _"So, you came back after a long four years. You college boyfriend didn't work out. So we went out for a couple of drinks to find out who we are now. Sure we changed but way deep down you had the same old feelings for me. I went to the store and bought you a ring and I got down on one knee down on one knee."_

He paused for a moment and handed his guitar off to Vince. He pulled a box out of his pocket and got down on his knee. Vince started playing where he'd left off.

Rayna covered her mouth and gasped in shock.

" _And I said. I wanna be your forever so baby will you be my wife? Now that we know a little better we could have a real nice life. Cause I'm what you wanted and you're what I need so let's meet in between. We're gonna be the greatest love story this town has ever seen. We're gonna be the greatest love story this town has ever seen. So, baby say yes to me."_ Deacon's heart was hammering in his chest.

Rayna looked at him in disbelief.

"Ray, you're the first person to ever love me just the way I am. I can't promise you the world, but I can promise to love you more tomorrow than I do today. I let you make me walk away once and I ain't gonna make that mistake again. Will you marry me?" He took the ring out of the box and slipped it on her finger.

Rayna bent down and kissed him deeply. "Yes, of course, I'll marry you."

Deacon jumped up and wrapped in a bear hug before he spun her around.

Lamar glared daggers at the back of his head. He wasn't happy about this at all.

* * *

A/N: Here is the next chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Until next time please review.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers.

* * *

Chapter 10

"I'll tell you what I don't feel any more welcome in this house than I did when you were sixteen." Deacon leaned over in his chair and whispered in Rayna's ear.

Rayna arched her eyebrow at him and gave him a disapproving look. "Be nice, daddy is trying here." She hissed at him through gritted teeth.

"If it makes you feel any better there's no longer a picture of you on his dartboard." Joe supplied to trying to lighten the mood.

They were in Lamar's sitting room. He was in his den finishing up a last minute work call.

Tandy elbowed her husband in the side. "Joseph," She said his name in a warning tone.

"Well, Deacon, I don't know that there is gonna be any winning with the Wyatt sisters today." Joe shrugged his shoulders.

"You act like we stand a chance of winnin' against 'em any day." Deacon retorted.

"If we can even be considered the Wyatt sisters now that someone is going by mom's maiden name." Tandy muttered. "Rayna, I really think that we should consider how prudent it is for those two to be around each other." She motioned to Deacon and Joe.

Rayna pretended like she didn't hear the first part of what her sister said. "Joe is harmless he just likes to tag along after Deacon and Vince sometimes."

"We're always glad to have him." Deacon grinned. The smiled fell from his face quickly.

Lamar walked out of his den pointed his finger at Deacon and gestured for him. "Deacon, a quick word."

Deacon stood up to follow him.

Rayna jumped to her feet. "Daddy, don't you do anything that you would normally do." She warned him. She knew that she had to protect Deacon from her father.

"Nonsense, Rayna, I'm not going to hurt the boy. I just want to have a word with my future son-in-law." Lamar tried to put her at ease.

"Babe, I'll be ok." Deacon squeezed her hand and followed Lamar into his den.

"Well, we know to call the police if it gets too loud or if it gets loud and then really quiet." Joe observed.

"Joe, that's not helping my nerves at the moment." Rayna sighed loudly.

"Deacon, have a seat." Lamar sat down and poured two glasses of scotch.

Deacon sat down in one of the arm chairs. He took the glass of scotch that Lamar offered him with a smile. This wasn't his drink of choice, but he could deal with it. "What's this 'bout?"

"Like I told Rayna. I just want to have a talk with my future son-in-law." Lamar replied.

Deacon sipped his scotch. "Ok, let's talk. I imagine that you have more than a few things you'd like to say to me."

Lamar drank half his drink in one gulp. "I've never made it any secret that I don't like you. I love Joe like the son I never had. He's good to my daughter and he asked me for her hand in marriage. I don't think for a second that you're good enough for Rayna or that you won't end up hurting her." He finished the other half of his drink. "Drink that you're going to want a refill."

Deacon tossed the rest of his drink down and waited for Lamar to pour them both another before he spoke. "I love her and I would never intentionally hurt her." That was the only thing he could think to say. He had to be careful to keep his temper in check. He hated the way that the older man looked down his nose at him.

"I'm sure that you believe that every man does. The fact is that you're poor white trash. I know all about how your daddy was a drunk who used to beat on you, your momma, and your sister. I did my homework. I can't trust just anyone with my daughters you understand. They say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I know you've gotten into your share of drunken brawls that Sam has covered up. I don't think I need to tell you what happens to you if you ever lay a hand on my daughter. Let's just say that they won't ever find the body and leave it at that. You're far from the type of man I would pick for her. If I had my way she'd marry Teddy Conrad and they'd run this town and give me grandbabies." Lamar took another healthy swallow of his drink.

Deacon's face got bright red. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves. He unbuttoned one button on his flannel shirt in hopes that would cool him down. "I can promise you that's the one thing you never have to worry 'bout. I lived that nightmare I wouldn't put anyone else through it. I ain't my past and most importantly I ain't my father." He flexed the fingers on his right hand to give them something to do other than knock Lamar's lights out.

Lamar smirked. His words were doing exactly what he'd intended for them to do. "I'd love to take your word for that, but you're basically a wild animal. You'd really like to hit me right now, wouldn't you?"

Every muscle in Deacon's body was tight like he was poised to strike. "I'd love to, but you're gonna be my father-in-law whether either of us like it or not. I love her and that means I gotta put up with you. I may not be smart or rich, but all I wanna do is make her happy. I cherish that woman. More importantly I understand her better than you or her sister do. I didn't ask you for her hand in marriage 'cause she don't belong to you or your world. She don't belong to anyone."

Lamar held up his hand to stop him from saying anything else. "I like Joe better than I like you and I always will. I won't ever think that you're good enough for her, but I will always feel halfway alright about having you as a son-in-law. You didn't kiss my ass. You did what you knew would make her happy. That's all I can really ask for. And you and Rayna seem to be the only hope I have for grandchildren." He gave the younger man a meaningful look.

Deacon nodded his head unsure of what to say. "Thank you, sir,"

"You can thank me by doing right by my daughter." Lamar retorted. "Come on, we should get out there."

Deacon rose out of the chair after finishing his drink and went back to Rayna's side.

"Did he behave himself?" Rayna asked before Deacon could say anything.

"I can't be sure, but I think he paid me a compliment." Deacon shrugged.

"I'll be damned, I woulda thought for sure he tried to kill you." Joe laughed.

"Joe, you're not helping the situation." Tandy called him down.

* * *

"Deacon, Rayna, come on in." Sam waved the pair into his office. "Two things before we get started. I hope you don't mind me meetin' with you both at the same time. It's easier this way because you share a manager. The second thing. Let me see that ring."

"I don't mind at all." Deacon sat down.

Rayna flashed her engagement ring at him. "He did a damn good job if I don't say so myself."

"He's learnin' anyway. Congratulations, y'all. If I have anythin' to say 'bout it you're gonna be the modern day Johnny and June." Sam grinned from ear to ear.

"Sam, what did you call this meeting for?" Bucky asked him.

"Rayna, your single is doing better than we anticipated. Everyone loves it. I don't think it hurts that you're linked with Deacon and everyone likes him so much." Sam addressed Rayna like Bucky hadn't said anything to him.

"Wow, I don't even know what to say. I don't think I expected things to take off this fast, but I'm grateful." Rayna reached over and squeezed Deacon's hand.

"Sam, why am I here?" Deacon dropped a quick kiss on Rayna's hand.

"Deacon, as you know you're do back out on the road. We've gotten you a new opening act." Sam answered him.

"What? Who? We were happy with the openin' act I had." Deacon knitted his brows together.

"I think you're gonna be even happier with your new opener. It's Rayna. You two were seamless when you played together. The crowd ate it up. It's gonna bring in a demographic for both of you that neither of you would get without the other. The only thing this is gonna do is make you both stronger." Sam told him.

"Well, I don't think I'm gonna argue with that." Deacon kissed Rayna's cheek.

"This is super short notice, but the last leg of this tour is only six weeks. So, your band is gonna play double duty. We will work on gettin' her a band when y'all get back to town." Sam informed them.

"The guys won't mind at all. They all love Rayna. And that way we don't have to worry about any personality clashes." Bucky didn't need anything else that was going to make the guys in that band get into fights.

"It's settled then. I will see y'all out on the road." Sam finished up the meeting.

* * *

Since there were only four days left before they went out on tour Rayna had insisted that they drop by Natchez to spend some time with Deacon's family. She didn't want them hearing second hand about their engagement.

"This isn't the way to the trailer." Rayna commented as they drove through Natchez. She'd been here with him before.

"Nope, when I got my first big check I bought momma a house. It's perfect for her." Deacon reached over and took her hand. He hated coming back to this town and all the bad memories it had for him, but he did want to see his mom and sister.

"Aren't you a good son?" Rayna teased him.

"I try to be anyway." Deacon pulled into the driveway of a cute little house on five acres of land.

"You ok?" She knew exactly why he hated to come back here. She was one of the only people he was truly open with.

"I'm fine, I'll be fine as long as I don't have to face him." Deacon got out of the truck and opened her door for her.

"Just this once I have bail money ready for you if you need it." Rayna didn't know what else to say or do to support him.

Deacon laughed and put his hand in the small of her back. "Thanks for that, darlin'. That made me feel a whole lot better." He led her up to the front porch and opened the door. He would have knocked, but his mother would have skinned him alive. She insisted that this was his home too.

"Just so you know I want a porch like this one day." Rayna followed him inside.

"I hear ya." He laughed again. "Momma! I'm home!" he called out.

A little girl of about two with bouncing blonde ringlets of curls ran into the room wearing nothing but a diaper. She ran straight to Deacon and lifted her arms for him to pick her up.

Deacon scooped her up and tossed her up into the air before catching her and kissing her all over her little face. "Scarlett Bug,"

"Unca Deac," Scarlett hugged her uncle around his neck.

"I got someone I want you to meet." Deacon told the little girl seriously.

"Unca Vin?" Scarlett asked about Vince.

"No, not your Uncle Vince. I'm rid of him for once." Deacon laughed at her. He pointed to Rayna. "Scarlett, that's your Aunt Ray. Ray, this is the little bug that stole my heart the minute she was born and I ain't got it back since."

"Oh, Deacon, she is adorable." Rayna gushed. She felt fire flash throughout her body. He was so much hotter holding a baby.

"She is. She's spent a lotta time with me in Austin and on the road. I'm so in love with this little girl. Ray, she is the light of my life. She also likes to be naked baby. Her mawmaw must be tryin' to wrestle her to get clothes on right now." He laughed and kissed Scarlett's head. "Go see your Aunt Ray." He handed her off to Rayna.

"Well, hi, Scarlett. It's very nice to meet you." Rayna held the little girl on her hip.

Scarlett looked up at her and stuck her thumb in her mouth.

"That means she likes you." Deacon smiled seeing his two favorite girls together. "Give me that thumb." He acted like he was gonna take the baby's thumb out of her mouth.

"I'm glad, 'cause you seem to love her and it would be bad if she didn't like me." Rayna replied.

"Mine," Scarlett tried to pull away from Deacon.

"Tell Uncle Deac to leave you alone." Rayna bounced her a little.

"Bad, Unca Deac!" Scarlett squealed at him.

"Deacon John, I know that's you. You're the only one who bothers that baby." His mother June walked into the living room from another part of the house.

"That baby loves me, momma." Deacon picked his mother up in a bear hug.

"Well, I love my big baby." June kissed both his cheeks. "Now, put me down."

"I love you too, momma." Deacon laughed and sat her down on her feet. "Look who else is here."

"Oh, my goodness, Rayna!" June put her arms around the young woman. "Look at how beautiful you got. You grew up real good."

"Thank you, it's so good to see you too, Mrs. Claybourne." Rayna hugged her back.

"Give me my bug. I'll let you two ladies say a proper hello." Deacon took Scarlett into his arms again.

"Rayna, how many times do I have to ask you to call me June?" June smiled warmly. "Now, let me get a good look at you." She took both of Rayna's hands in hers.

"Just one more time like always." Rayna laughed. "You shouldn't fuss over me so. I haven't changed that much in four years."

June laughed with her. "Believe me I'm gonna make a fuss over you. You have no idea what that boy was like to live with without you 'round. I hope you know that you ain't goin' anywhere this time."

"I don't plan on it. He's not gonna be able to get rid of me if he wants to." Rayna assured her.

"Ray, go on and tell her." Deacon didn't want to keep his mother in suspense.

"June, your son has asked me to marry him and I said yes." Rayna showed her the ring Deacon had given her.

June put her hands over her mouth. "Oh, my goodness! Both of you get over here and let me hug you. I'm so happy for you." She put her arms around them both.

"Thank you, I can't imagine my life without this man." Rayna smiled.

"She got away from me once I don't plan on makin' that mistake again." Deacon laid his head on his mother's shoulder.

"You two are gonna be so happy together I know it." June's eyes filled with happy tears. "Deacon John, you're not Gideon you know that."

"I know that, momma." Deacon cleared his throat to hide his emotions.

"Alright, now this calls for a celebration. I'm about to get this house rockin' and rollin'." June pulled away from them.

"Oh boy, every Claybourne in the county is 'bout to be here. I say all the time that I bought the house for her, but it belongs to everyone in the family." Deacon teased her.

"You know it." June swatted his arm playfully.

"Where's Bev?" Rayna asked. There had never been any love lost between her and Deacon's sister, but she was willing to try. He put up with her sister it was only fair.

"As far as I know she's in Texas workin' with the producer Deacon lined up for her." June replied. She wasn't really sure what her daughter was up to most the time.

Deacon pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "She left you alone with Scarlett again?"

"She's my only grandbaby I don't mind." June put a calming hand on his shoulder.

"Do I need to write you another check this month?" Deacon asked. He always made sure to send money to his mother.

"No, you do not need to write me another check. I have more than enough to cover what I need to with money left over. I told you to stop spendin' all your money on us. We will be fine." June promised him.

Deacon put his hands up in a sign of surrender. "Ok, whatever you say."

"Do y'all have any bags?" June asked.

"Yeah, I'll go get 'em outta the truck." Deacon replied.

"After you do that show Rayna to your room." June told him.

"Yes ma'am," Deacon agreed.

After Deacon and Rayna had gotten settled in they sat around the living room with June and Scarlett.

"Deacon, are you still gonna take Scarlett down to Austin with you to kick off this last leg of your tour?" June asked.

"Of course, I am. Don't I always take her?" Deacon bounced his niece on his knee.

"I just thought that you and Rayna might like a little privacy." June mused.

"Takin' her with us isn't a problem at all. We'd love to have her. I feel like I know her already. Deacon talks 'bout her all the time. He's so in love with that little girl and I find it adorable." Rayna spoke up.

"How long are y'all in town for?" June topped off all their glasses of tea.

"I figured we'd stay here a couple days and then head to Austin I want at least a day there to rest before the tour starts back up." Deacon took a drink of his tea.

"Trust me he drives fast enough to make that happen." Rayna squeezed his shoulder.

June's expression turned serious. "Deacon, while you're in a good mood I have a favor to ask you."

"Momma, you know that you just have to name what you need and I'll get it for you." Deacon smiled at her.

"I need you to give Ridge a job. It doesn't matter what it is just somethin' to keep him outta trouble and where he can earn money." June knew that that wasn't gonna go over very well.

"Ridge is just as bad as Gideon when he wants to be, but for Uncle Jeff and Aunt Loretta I'll do it. If he screws up he's gone. I ain't gonna put up with him, momma." Deacon sighed.

"Thank you, baby boy, I know how difficult that was." June smiled. She knew that there was history between Deacon and his cousin that wasn't very good.

"You're lucky I love you. You three women in my life make me do things I wouldn't otherwise do." He gestured to Rayna, his mother, and Scarlett.

"That's 'cause you're a good man, son." June kissed his cheek.

* * *

"Deacon, how much further are we from your place in Austin?" Rayna looked in the backseat to check on Scarlett.

The little girl was squirming and fusing.

"We're 'bout forty-five minutes away. Do you think Bug can make it that far?" Deacon looked over his shoulder quickly.

"She's been in the truck for a long time. I think she could use a little break. I know that I would like to stretch my legs." Rayna batted her eyelashes at him.

"Ok, ok," Deacon laughed and pulled off at a rest area. He opened the truck down and climb out. After being on the road so long he's legs felt like rubber bands.

He opened the back door. He grabbed Scarlett and the diaper bag out.

"Are you gonna change her or do you want me to?" Rayna reached for Scarlett.

"Somethin' tells me if you knew how I change her when I have her out on the road alone you'd frown upon it." Deacon handed her the little girl.

Rayna looked at him and shook her head. "You change on her the tailgate, don't you?"

"You know me way too well." He kissed her cheek and put the diaper bag on her shoulder.

Rayna smiled and kissed Scarlett's cheek. "Ok, Ms. Bug, let's go get you changed. Say see you in a minute, Uncle Deac."

Deacon blew them a kiss. "Bye my loves." He went into the bathroom and then he walked around to stretch his legs.

"There's Uncle Deac, go get him Scarlett." Rayna let the little girl hold her hand and run to the truck where Deacon stood.

Deacon picked his niece up and kissed both her cheeks. "You feelin' better now?"

"Much better, she needed a new diaper and she's good to go." Rayna informed him.

"We should get back on the road and we can get somethin' to eat when we get to my place." Deacon suggested.

"That sounds perfect to me." Rayna agreed with him.

Deacon buckled Scarlett in and got into the truck.

A little while later they pulled up in front of Deacon's house. He owned a house on a lake with a bunch of property. It had been his gift to himself with his first big paycheck.

"Deacon, this is gorgeous and if possible I love you even more than I already did." Rayna gasped when she saw it.

"I figured you'd like it. I remember how much you always wanted to have a house on the water. I think I had you in mind when I bought this place even though I didn't want to admit it to myself at the time." Deacon grabbed the bags out of the back of the truck. "Let Scarlett show you around she knows the way."

Rayna got Scarlett out and let her lead her up to the door. "I think you're happy to be outta that truck."

"I don't know 'bout either of you two, but I'm glad to be outta that truck." Deacon put the key in the lock.

Before he could unlock the door, Vince threw it open. "Well, hey there, you two love birds." He picked Scarlett up and tossed in her the air and caught her.

"Unca Vin," Scarlett squealed.

"He lives here too?" Rayna arched her eyebrow.

"He rents a room. Or at least he says he does. I ain't ever seen a penny from him." Deacon rolled his eyes.

"How many times do I have to ask you to give me a little warnin' if your sister is gonna be here?" Vince nagged his friend.

"Vince, don't either of ya pay rent you and Bev can duke it out with each other as far as I'm concerned." Deacon brought the bags in and threw them down on the floor.

"What would you do without him?" Rayna wrapped her arm around his waist.

"I could survive without him livin' with me. This actually works out perfectly. We're gettin' married you can throw him out and tell him that we need space that way I ain't gotta be the bad guy." Deacon pulled her to him and kissed her deeply.

"I think I can get on board with that." Rayna put her arms around his neck and laughed against his lips.

* * *

A/N: Here is the next chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Until next time please review.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers.

* * *

Chapter 11

Deacon put another log on the fire he'd started in the fire pit in his back yard. "Y'all warm enough?" He looked over at Rayna who was holding Scarlett in her lap. She had the little girl bundled up in a blanket.

"We are doin' just fine, Uncle Deac." Rayna smiled at him. She was amazed with the way he was with his niece. It gave her a glimpse into the kind of father he'd be one day.

"That's what I like to hear. We got Uncle Vinny outta our hair for the night and now it can be just the three of us in peace." Deacon got off the ground and dusted the dirt from the knees of his jeans. He grabbed a stick to roast marshmallows with.

"I don't think we will get lucky and he will stay gone very long. He's like a bad case of the clap he just keeps comin' back." Rayna quipped.

Deacon threw back his head and laughed. "As his best friend I can't argue with that assessment" He roasted the marshmallow until it was a toasted brown in color and then he examined it. He nodded his head satisfied with the way it looked. "Hit me with a graham cracker and chocolate."

"Here you go." Rayna held out a two pieces of graham cracker for him to slide the marshmallow between. Her engagement ring sparkled in the firelight.

Deacon slid the marshmallow onto the sandwich she had created. "That one is for Scarlett Bug. She will eat that whole thing."

"Deacon, I don't think you're supposed to feed her that much sugar this late. She is just a baby." Rayna cautioned him.

"She'll be fine. It ain't the first time I've fed her somethin' I probably wasn't 'spose to." Deacon shrugged his shoulders.

Rayna just shook her head and handed the smore to Scarlett. She laughed when the little girl dove right in. "Goodness, little lady, you sure do like that."

"This is why she loves hangin' with Uncle Deac. He lets her do all the things that mawmaw won't let her do." Deacon chuckled. He made two more smores for him and Rayna.

"Your momma would kill you if she knew what you were feedin' this baby." Rayna pointed out to him.

"She ain't at the age where she can tell on me yet. When she is I'll have to rethink all the things I let her have." Deacon said like it didn't bother him. He claimed a seat next to her and put his arm around her shoulders.

"I'm sure that won't be a problem. She's gonna know that Uncle Deac is gonna be her yes man." Rayna leaned her head against his shoulder. "This is really nice. I want a place like this back home. I've always wanted a place with a lot of land out on the water."

"I remember. I think I bought this place with you in mind. Even when we weren't together I was still thinkin' 'bout you. I think I knew that we weren't done and we were gonna be here together one day." Deacon spoke from his heart.

They sat there in silence happily enjoying each other's company for awhile. The moon shone bright on the lake lighting up what the fire didn't. The only sound was the song of crickets chirping.

Rayna smiled when she looked down and saw Scarlett was sound asleep. The little girl was a sticky mess. She had chocolate around her mouth and marshmallow stuck to her hand. "Deac, she's sleepin'. I need you to go get her washrag to wipe her off. This girl is a damn mess. We can't put her to bed like this."

Deacon bent down and kissed Scarlett's head. "I'll go get that and be right back." He stole a kiss from Rayna.

"Hurry back. I don't know what I'll do with my big strong man out here to keep me safe." Rayna bit her lip seductively.

"Now don't you go startin' somethin' while you're holdin' that baby. I wanna have my way with you anyway, but I gotta put that baby to bed." Deacon smirked and walked into the house.

Rayna leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes just enjoying the peace and quiet.

It wasn't long before that peace was broken by a pair of rowdy voices.

"Damn it, woman, if you don't stop botherin' me tonight I'm gonna lose my fuckin' mind." Vince complained loudly.

"Vince, I don't know why the hell my baby brother puts up with you. You ain't nothin', but a pain in the ass and you have been since the minute he met ya." A female voice told him.

Rayna wrapped the blanket tighter around Scarlett and groaned. She knew exactly who the female voice belonged to. It was Deacon's sister Beverly. There had never been any love lost between them and there probably never would be. She prayed silently that they wouldn't come back there and they wouldn't have to deal with her before Deacon got back outside to play buffer between them.

Thankfully, Deacon stepped back outside before they could come around back. "Hey, y'all, this is my house I live here. If you could keep your voices down and not cause the neighbors to call the cops that would be great."

"Your closest neighbor is up the road a way. I doubt they can hear us screamin'." Vince rolled his eyes.

"There's my baby brother! Come here. It has been too long since I saw you last." Beverly rushed to her brother and threw her arms around his neck.

"Hey, Beverly," Deacon accepted the hug from his sister not that he had much of a choice.

"I'm gonna go grab some drinks and I'll meet you out back at the fire pit." Vince told him. He didn't bother to ask he knew the answer already.

"Yeah, and grab the bottle of wine off the counter too." Deacon agreed. "Come on, Bev, let's go out back." He led his sister back to the fire pit. He went over to Scarlett and wiped her down. "There we go, all clean." He whispered and kissed her little cheek.

Beverly's expression turned cold when she saw Rayna sitting there holding Scarlett. "What is she doin' here and why is she holdin' my baby?"

Deacon held his hand up in a sign for Rayna to let him handle it when he saw her go to open her mouth. "Beverly, please don't start. She's my future wife you're just gonna have to get used to her bein' 'round. I love her and that's all that should matter to you." He put his foot down.

"If she hurts you again I ain't gonna be there to pick up the pieces like before." Beverly relented, but she gave one last parting shot.

"I have no intentions of hurtin' your brother again. I didn't want to hurt him the first time. It was just a complicated situation. I was tryin' to please my daddy and the kindest thing I could do at the time was let Deacon go no matter how much it killed me." Rayna spoke up for herself.

"I guess we will just see 'bout that." Beverly looked the younger woman up and down disdainfully.

Deacon just shook his head. He carefully eased Scarlett out of Rayna's arms. It hadn't escaped his notice that Beverly hadn't made a move to tend to her daughter. "I'm gonna go put this little one to bed, so she can stretch out. I'll be right back." He walked into the house carrying his niece like she was fragile.

"I don't know what kind of spell you have my brother under, but I can see right through you. You are puttin' on some kind of act that has him snowed and I promise you if you hurt him I will rain down hellfire and brimstone on you." Beverly said as soon as her brother was out of earshot.

"I guess I can see why you're worried. But, the only spell your brother or I are under is love. I know that you've never liked me and I'm not particularly fond of you either. We both love that and I think the best thing we can do for him is be civil to each other. We don't have to like each other and we don't have to be best friends, we just have to try to get along." Rayna countered.

"I can agree to that. I can also put you on noticed." Beverly glared at her.

Rayna nodded her head in agreement. "I think that's fair."

Before either of them could say anything else Vince walked out carrying a cooler full of iced down beer. He sat it down and took a red solo cup and a bottle of wine out of it. "Rayna, this is for you." He poured the wine for her and handed her the cup. He took a beer out of the cooler and handed it to Beverly. "That's for you. Deac was just changing Scarlett for bed and he will be right back out."

"Thanks," Rayna smiled up at him.

"It's 'bout damn time you made yourself useful." Beverly told him.

Vince took a seat and crossed his legs at the ankles. He popped the top on a beer and drank deeply from it. He let out a loud belch. "I'll tell y'all what. I've known Deac for a lotta years now and I've seen him behave just 'bout every way a person can. I've seen him mad, I've seen him in love, I've seen him with his heart broken. Through it all I ain't never seen him be as tender as he is with that little girl. The way he holds her like she's gonna break if he moves wrong is so outta character for him. And that's sayin' somethin' once upon a time he was all crazy 'bout this little ol' girl who had never been with a real man before."

Rayna held up her hand to stop him from saying anything else. She didn't want him laying the details of her first time out for Beverly to hear. "I know that you and that man tell each other everythin', but I want you to stop talkin' right now."

Vince just took that as permission to go further. He took another long drink from his beer. "That boy was like a giddy little school girl over you. Hell, he still is. You shoulda seen him when we went to pick out your engagement ring."

"I shoulda known that you had a hand in that." Rayna rolled her eyes.

"That little girl is out like a light and curled up in the center of my bed like she owns it." Deacon walked back out. "Beer me, Vinny,"

Vince tossed him a beer.

Deacon caught it effortlessly. He opened it and took a drink. He walked over and put his hand on Rayna's shoulder. He had a huge smile on his face. "I gotta tell y'all I ain't a guy that waxes sentimental often, but here tonight with y'all I feel like the luckiest son bitch in the world."

Rayna grabbed her hand and squeezed it tightly. She couldn't love that man more if she tried.

* * *

So far things on the tour had been going great out on tour. Rayna had taken to it like a duck takes to water. It had been amazing for Deacon to tour with her. It had calmed him and the rest of the band down a lot. She didn't suffer their foolishness. She would party with them, but she would only let them go so far. They were in New Orleans for a few days on their next tour stop. They were ready to start wedding planning and they had flown both their parents in to start the process.

"Babe, calm down, you don't have to be so nervous it's just dinner with our parents." Rayna reached over and grabbed Deacon's hand to calm his nerves.

"I was nervous the first time I headlined my own tour. I was nervous the day I got out on that bass boat to sign my contract with Sam. I was nervous that night at the Bluebird 'fore I kissed you for the first time. But, right now I am downright terrified. These are our parents we are dealin' with. It ain't really my momma I'm worried 'bout it's your daddy. I never know how he is gonna behave." Deacon snorted.

Rayna moved closer to him and rubbed his back. She pressed a quick kiss to his temple. She fell deeper in love with him by the minute. Especially when he said things like that. "It'll be ok. You ready to go in there and face 'em?"

"As ready as I'm ever gonna be." Deacon took a deep breath.

They walked into the private room of the restaurant they had agreed to meet their parents in. Lamar and June were already there, each of them already had a drink in front of them.

"Hey, momma, I'm glad to see that you got in ok and that the driver I got to bring you here from the airport worked out." Deacon put on a smile and opened his arms to his mother.

"I still say you didn't have to waste your money on me. I could have gotten here fine on my own." June hugged him and kissed both his cheeks. She went to Rayna and hugged her next. "Hi, sweetheart, I'm really happy to see you."

"It's good to see you too, June." Rayna smiled at her.

Deacon went over to Lamar and offered him his hand. "Lamar,"

Lamar stood up to shake the younger man's hand. "Deacon," He replied in kind.

June watched the exchange silently. She could see the obvious disdain in which Lamar held her son. She didn't say anything, but she would bide her time until she got an opening.

Rayna went to her father and kissed his cheek. "It's good to see you, daddy."

"I was happy to come. I have business in town anyway, this way I can kill two birds with one stone." Lamar responded.

"Before we get to talkin' where is my baby?" June asked about Scarlett. She had her more than Beverly did and she was the one who took care of her.

"She is happily learnin' to play drums with her Uncle Vin." Deacon reported.

June gave him a look.

"For the record I was against it too. I will say this though, Vince is a child in a grown man's body, but he is so good with that little girl." Rayna spoke up.

"That boy is like a second son to me, but lord can he be goofy." June sat back down.

Deacon pulled out Rayna's chair for her before he sat down.

"Thank you, babe." Rayna smiled at him.

"You're welcome, baby." Deacon took her hand and kissed it.

"So, we are here to talk wedding plans. When were you two thinking about going through with this?" Lamar got down to business.

Deacon smiled. "I will let my bride to be answer that question."

"This tour ends in a few weeks and we were thinkin' that we don't wanna wait to be married. We don't need anythin' elaborate or too fancy. Just somethin' simple up at momma's property will do the trick. This way we can take some time off and enjoy bein' married before we have to go back out on the road again." Rayna explained. She knew that her father was going to be less than thrilled by this turn of events.

"I see you two are makin' up for lost time." June joked.

"We sure are." Deacon grinned.

"Rayna, are you pregnant? That's the only reason I can think of for you to rush into marriage like this. You just turned twenty-one. You can take your time. I want you to think this through." Lamar of course thought the worst right off the bat.

"Daddy, I'm not pregnant. I'm happy and I want to be married to this man. I don't remember you givin' Tandy a hard time when she wanted to marry Joe." Rayna countered.

"She didn't rush to marry him in shotgun wedding fashion." Lamar pointed out to her.

"We know it's fast, but when you know you know. I love her more than anythin' in the world and she loves me better than I deserve. We will do this without y'all if we have to, but we don't want to." Deacon spoke up. He wasn't going to go out of his way to make Lamar like him. He knew that it wouldn't do any good anyway.

Lamar nodded his head thoughtfully. "Ok, then, if that's what you two want I will help get it set up."

"Baby, I'm gonna go up to the bar and order the most expensive bottle of champagne they have here. I will be right back." Deacon stood up.

"I will join you. I have to use the bathroom anyway." Rayna took the hand that he offered her and stood up.

June waited until her son and his bride to be walked out of the room to speak. "You don't like my son very much do you?" She asked even though she already knew the answer.

"I like him just fine." Lamar sipped his scotch.

"You can't bullshit a bullshitter. It's written all over you face you don't like him and you don't think he's good enough for your daughter. I may not have a lotta of money or been able to afford to give my son the best things in the world, but I did instill bein' a good man in him. He holds open doors for her and he pulls out her chair. I don't think you can ask for much more than that. Oh and I should mention that he loves her to distraction and will do whatever it takes to make sure she is happy even if it means that he has to sacrifice somethin' he wants." June called him on his bullshit.

"When I first met your son he reminded me of a rebel without a clue. He was just a young punk with a chip on his shoulder carrying around a lot of anger. He still reminds me of a wounded animal. You're right I will never think that he is good enough for my daughter, but that doesn't mean I won't get out of their way and let them be happy." Lamar informed her.

"He's gonna surprise you. That boy has been through a lot and he still became the amazin' man he is today. He takes care of me, his sister, and his niece. I'm sure you already knew all of this. A man of your standin' wouldn't just let his daughter date someone he knew nothin' 'bout. I'm sure you know all 'bout my ex husband and the things he did." June arched her eyebrow at him. She had spent years cowering from her husband she wasn't about to let Lamar think he could get away with that.

Lamar broke out in a grin from ear to ear. He liked a woman who had a little fire in her. Virginia had had it in spades and he'd been head over heels in love with her. Now there was just something about June that made him want to know more about her. "Well, when you put it like that I think that I will just have to wait and see. You don't strike me as the type of woman who would make those kinda promises about her son unless she knew for a fact he would follow through."

June smiled at him. "That's right I'm very confidant that he will come through. He is a good man he isn't his father."

Lamar nodded. "I want to keep you in the loop with these wedding plans. I would very much like to have you come to Nashville to help me out."

"I would like that a lot too." June agreed. She hadn't always been able to do much for her son, but she could do this.

Deacon and Rayna returned a minute later with a waiter who brought in a bottle of champagne and four glasses.

Once the champagne had been poured Lamar stood up and offered a toast. "To Rayna and Deacon, may you two have a long and happy life together."

They all clicked glasses and drank. Rayna took Deacon's hand and squeezed it. Things were going better than either of them had expected.

* * *

"I have some great news for you guys." Bucky sat in the living area of the hotel suite Rayna and Deacon were in.

"What is it, Buck?" Deacon asked. He didn't want this meeting to run over any longer than it had to. He wanted to enjoy the rest of the afternoon off before they had to be on stage.

Rayna reached over and put her hand on his forearm in a loving gesture. "Buck, you'll have to excuse his temper today. Him and Vince went at it a little too hard last night as usual, but they are both payin' for it today."

"The label as you know launched your duet and it is burning up the charts. There is a lot of of demand for you guys to get another one out there." Bucky explained.

Deacon looked over at Rayna and smirked. "I think we can handle that."

"I agree, there is somethin' that we can do about that." Rayna smiled.

"Is that my cue to get outta here, so you guys can do your thing?" Bucky looked between the two of them.

"If you have no other business to discuss with us then yeah it is." Deacon told him.

"I don't have anything else for you. Rayna's album is doing well. I will leave you two to do your thing and I will see you later tonight." Bucky took his leave, so they could get to work. He was pretty sure part of their process included getting naked and rolling around together. He wanted no part of witnessing that.

Deacon grabbed his guitar without another word.

Rayna grabbed a pad of paper. They didn't need to speak a word to each other it was part of what made songwriting so easy between them.

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

"I'm gonna do a new one for y'all tonight. But to do that, help me welcome Miss Rayna Jaymes back to the stage." Deacon clapped along with the crowd. He had always been able to draw a decent crowd before, but now with Rayna it was huge.

Rayna walked out holding a mic and waved to the crowd. "Deacon and I are really excited to do this song for y'all tonight. It's a brand new one and we hope you like it."

"So brand new we wrote it just before sound check, so y'all are gettin' the exclusive first listen to this." Deacon picked up.

Rayna and Deacon sat on stools side by side. He started to play the opening notes of their new song on his guitar.

" _Don't you try to tell me someone's waitin' there not waitin' for you. Oh, and don't you try to tell that you're wanted that you're needed. 'Cause it's not true. I know why you're lonely it's time you knew it too."_ Rayna started singing softly.

" _No one will ever love you. No one will ever love you. No one will ever love you like I do."_ The sang the chorus together.

" _Why you always lookin' for the limelight ain't you satisfied with me. For once why don't you get off your high heels. You're no big deal can't you see? I know why you're lonely. It's time you knew it too."_ Deacon took the second verse. They were sitting facing each other and it was like no one else was in the room as they sang.

" _No one will ever love you. No one will ever love you. No one will ever love you like I do."_

" _I'm all you got. I'm all you'll ever need I'm all you'll ever have."_ She reached over and put her hand on his knee.

" _No one will ever love you. No one will ever love you. No one will ever love you. Like I do. Like I do. Like I do."_ They finished the song staring deeply into each other's eyes. It was like they couldn't hear the applause around them. They shared a quick kiss and caused the crowd to cheer even more than they already were.

Bucky stood at the side of the stage clapping his hands loudly when they came off. "That was a home run. The label is gonna love that. You wrote that in one afternoon?" He couldn't believe that goldmine he had stumbled onto first with Deacon and now with Rayna.

"Yeah, you said we needed another duet." Deacon shrugged his shoulders like it was no big deal.

"He's told you and I've told you. Three chords and the truth." Rayna pointed out to him. It was easy to write the song so fast because it was about their love for each other.

Vince walked up behind them and made a gagging noise. "Buck, they are gettin' mighty damn hard to live with. Don't praise 'em you're gonna make 'em even worse than they already are."

"Shut up, Vince." Deacon and Rayna yelled at him in unison.

"This is why I like them better than you. They keep you in line." Bucky smirked at him.

"You love me and you know it, Buck. Everyone loves Vince." Vince bragged loudly.

"Get a drink in that animal and shut him up." Branch begged.

"That sounds like a damn fine idea." Deacon agreed. He looped his arm around Rayna's waist and walked back to their shared dressing room with her.

Rayna leaned into his side as they walked. "I love you and I can't wait to be your wife."

"I love you too and I can't wait to be your husband." Deacon stole a kiss from her.

"You are gonna make me the happiest woman on this planet in a few weeks." Rayna grabbed a beer for both of them. She opened his for him and handed it to him.

"Thanks babe," Deacon kissed her and drank some of his beer. "I don't think it'll be possible for anyone to be happier than I'll be."

"We will just see about that, Mr. Claybourne." Rayna smirked at him.

"I guess we will, Future Mrs. Claybourne." Deacon kissed her cheek and pinched her ass.

"Oh, you didn't get enough of me earlier." Rayna gave him a knowing look.

"You know that I never get enough of you." Deacon planted a long lingering kiss on her lips in a promise of things to come.

* * *

A/N: Here is the next chapter I hope you guys enjoyed it. Until next time please review.


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